Nominate a Zora’s Garden
“Garden Bed”
Nominate a Garden Bed
Community donations help us grow garden beds—sites that receive donations where children can read, imagine, and gather around story. Help us plant stories where they can be shared, loved, and remembered.
Bookseeds → The books. Each copy of Zora’s Garden is a seed for the imagination.
Garden Beds → The places. Schools, classrooms, and organizations where seeds are planted.
Planting → When books arrive and are shared with children.
Storytelling → The sun. Storytellers bring warmth and light that help stories grow.
Author Visit → The sun shining. A shared moment where the story comes alive.
The Garden → All of us, growing together in honor of beloved storyteller Zora Neale Hurston.
Do you know a school, classroom, library, or community organization that would benefit from a garden bed of Zora’s Garden books and a shared storytelling experience? Use the form below to nominate them.
What is the Zora’s Garden Book Drive?
The Zora’s Garden Book Drive is a community-powered literacy initiative inspired by the life and legacy of Zora Neale Hurston, one of the most influential writers and storytellers in American history.
Zora’s Garden reimagines Zora as a young girl learning how to tell stories in the garden alongside her mother. It honors the way storytelling, nature, and imagination shaped her voice long before she became a celebrated author and anthropologist.
Through community donations, the book drive places bundles of Zora’s Garden books into classrooms and community learning spaces, creating opportunities for children to read together and see themselves as storytellers too.
After the books arrive, each completed “garden bed” includes access to a virtual author visit with Rae, offering a shared storytelling experience that connects children to Zora’s legacy in an age-appropriate, joyful way.
This book drive is about literacy, cultural memory, imagination, and children experiencing living literary lineage.
Why Your Nomination Matters
Access to books and storytelling experiences is not equal, and many children never get the chance to engage with authors or see themselves reflected in the stories they read.
Nationally, only a small percentage of Black and Hispanic children are reading at or above grade level by fourth grade, and books by Black authors make up a very small share of children’s publishing each year. At the same time, books that center children of color and their experiences are disproportionately challenged or removed from classrooms and libraries.
The Zora’s Garden Book Drive responds by doing more than placing books on shelves.
By growing shared garden beds of Zora’s Garden and pairing them with storytelling experiences, the book drive invites children to encounter literature as something living and joyful. Children not only read a book inspired by Zora Neale Hurston, they experience storytelling as a practice they belong to.
These moments matter. They help children see themselves as readers, storytellers, and creators, while expanding how all children understand voice, imagination, and possibility.
What Garden Beds Receive
For every fully funded garden bed, the receiving group receives:
One copy of Zora’s Garden for each child or student
One virtual reading of Zora’s Garden led by Rae Chesny
A minimum of 30 donated books is required
Virtual readings are typically scheduled four to six weeks after donation, allowing time for books to be ordered, delivered, and the garden bed to be ready to be planted
A digital copy of the Zora’s Garden Coloring Book and Activity Guide
K–3 Common Core alignment for ELA and Social Studies for educators
A sticker and a packet of Zora’s Garden seeds to extend engagement with the book
Seed packets ship separately
Educators, caregivers, and facilitators may choose how and when to use these materials in ways that best serve their students and learning environments..
Nominate a Garden Bed for a Zora’s Garden Giveaway
Know a school, classroom, library, or community organization that would benefit from receiving a garden bed of Zora’s Garden books?
You’re invited to nominate them using the form below.
Please note:
Nominations help guide where books are sent, but placement is not guaranteed.
Garden beds are fulfilled based on available funding, readiness, and scheduling.
Selected locations will be contacted before books are shipped.
Donors may choose to indicate a preferred garden bed or location they’d like their donation to support.
Preferences are honored whenever possible, but garden bed placement is not guaranteed. All donations support the overall mission of placing books into classrooms and community learning spaces.