Winnie the Pooh, The Giving Tree sculptures join Abilene’s Storybook Garden expansion

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Just a few weeks ago, the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council (ACAC) broke ground on expanding the Storybook Garden, Abilene’s serene space for sculptures of classic and contemporary storybook characters.

Once complete, the Clear Fork Bank Storybook Garden will host a contemporary version of Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, all eight main cast characters from Winnie-the-Pooh, four turtles, and Plum the Peacock from the works of this year’s Children’s Art and Literacy Festival (CALF) honoree, award-winning illustrator Matt Phelan.

The original Adamson-Spalding Storybook Garden opened in 2017. ACAC’s Lynn Barnett said that the planning for this expansion began about two years ago with a city request.

“The city came to the cultural affairs council and suggested we expand the garden and…We have actually used kind of the last spot for the sculptures. So the timing was really perfect,” said Barnett.

The project will be carried out in two phases. Phase one will include The Giving Tree, Turtles, Plum the Peacock, partial pathways, overhead lighting, and a rock water wall fountain. That phase will be completed by June 12, 2025, just in time for this year’s CALF.

“The turtles are actually going to live in the rock water wall, which will be a part of this expansion,” Barnett said.

Phase two will include Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Rabbit, Kanga & Roo, and Owl from the classic Winnie the Pooh book series, the subject of next year’s CALF. Phase two will be completed before the festival—sometime before June 11, 2026.

The new garden will be located on the corner of the Abilene Convention Center, opposite the existing Garden, at the intersection of North 6th and Cedar streets. Plans are also in the works to further develop the two remaining grassy spaces directly in front of the Convention Center.

“We want people to go there and become familiar with the books, you know? That’s our whole driving motivation is to get families to read and for kids to get excited about reading. So we just hope this will provide a whole new opportunity and incentive for them to do that,” said Barnett.

The new garden and sculptures will cost around $1.7 million. Barnett said all funds have been secured for phase one, and about $50,000 remain to be raised. No part of this project has involved city funding; all money comes purely through donations.

“I’m just so grateful to all the donors and to the volunteers that have worked so hard. We have volunteers, Clint Rosenbaum, our engineer, and Brandon Young at Parkhill…Stephen Jones led the campaign to raise the money. So we just have so many wonderful people that have just been working so hard to make this happen,” Barnett said.

Anyone who wants to donate to the project can contact the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council. The ACAC is also currently offering the public the opportunity to purchase engraved bricks for $150 each, which will be laid along the pathways at the new park.