It started in the dirt
The story of a real Tennessee garden, the characters who grew out of it, and the family behind the books.
Cottage Creek Garden started the way most good things do — quietly, in the dirt, with an idea that kept growing. There's a real garden in Tennessee behind everything we make: real tomatoes, real lavender, real afternoons.
Out of those afternoons came a little world. A shy tortoise named Moss. A roly-poly named Pip with a heart bigger than he is. A sunflower called Sunny who never stops smiling. They found their way into bedtime stories, then onto pages, then into books — and the garden kept giving.
Today Cottage Creek Garden is a storybook world for little ones and the families who read to them — gentle picture books, an animated series narrated by Mari, and a whole garden of characters to grow up with. All of it rooted in the same patch of Tennessee dirt.
What we believe
Grown, not manufactured
We believe stories should be tender without being saccharine, and that a book you read to a child should be made with intention. Every one gets written the slow way — the same way the garden grows.
Start with the BooksWhat guides the garden
Unhurried
Good gardens take seasons, not sprints. We'd rather make fewer books slowly than many things fast.
Genuine
The garden is real. The willow is real. The stories grew out of real afternoons — and it shows.
For the whole family
Written for little ones, meant to be shared out loud. There’s a spot in this garden for you, too.