The Making of Gnomes

When I began writing these stories, I had just purchased four little doors and set them up in various places in our backyard. One at the base of an old birch tree, another in our garden bed, one by the pond, and the last high up in our plum tree. Little did I know that I had just established the homes of our beloved Gnomes of Wondergarten.

To help support our little in-home preschool, I began to dabble with stories about these gnomes in our backyard, deciding to base each of them on one of the four temperaments.

The Four Temperaments

Choleric: Ambitious, leader-like disposition; associated with fire and the color red; extroverted. Sanguine: Sociable, enthusiastic, and active personality; associated with air and the color yellow; extroverted. Phlegmatic: Calm, reliable, and peaceful nature; associated with earth and the color green; introverted. Melancholic: Thoughtful, introspective, and reserved personality; associated with water and the color blue; introverted

Much of the way we understand children is viewed through the lens of these four archetypes. So I felt it was fitting to have one gnome for each personality as a way to ensure that every child had a character they could identify with. What resulted was The Gnomes of Wondergarten.

Thumbkin, our classic gnome, a red-hatted choleric who grows mushrooms. Petipom (short for petite pomme, or little apple), our youngest (beardless) gnome, a yellow-hatted sanguine who grows fruits and berries. Rutabug (roots & bugs), our largest gnome, a green-hatted phlegmatic who grows vegetables. Puddleblume (water blossom), our eldest gnome, a blue-hatted melancholic who grows flowers by the pond.

Expanding the World of Wondergarten

As the stories grew, so did the world of our gnomes. Being quite inspired by folklore traditions, I wanted to incorporate elements of the Winter King and Lady Spring, poems about Mother Earth, Father Sun, Brother Wind, and Sister Rain. But the problem was that they were all disconnected, with little continuity between them. It was all beautiful, but scattered.

So I set about creating a world where all these wonderful ideas could exist, with new lore, new backstories, roles, and personalities. Over the course of three years, I introduced the Autumn Princess and the Prince of Summer, found a place for the Snow Queen, and added a missing element—Sister Flame—who was very much inspired by Walt Disney’s Tinker Bell.

Then, of course, each of the gnomes needed friends, too—little well-dressed animals (inspired by Beatrix Potter) who each share the same temperament. So came Mr. Morrison Mole, friend to Rutabug; Sir Alistar Owl, friend to Puddleblume (whom you’ll meet in winter); Ms. Eliza Hummingbird, friend to Petipom (who comes in the spring); and of course, our protagonist, Mr. Hamilton Squirrel, best friend to Thumbkin (who, like Walt Disney’s Jiminy Cricket, serves as both narrator and character in our stories).

In many ways, each of these characters were inspired by my favorites in literature, including Sherlock Holmes, The Lord of the Rings, and The Chronicles of Narnia. I wanted to restore a richness and beauty back to children’s books that, I feel, have been sorely lacking. This is my attempt to change that.

Return to the Kingdom of Childhood

While the point of all this was, of course, to engage the fantasy of our children and to bring the world around them to life, as an author I was enjoying the process of creating this little world just as much. So much so that I often forgot to come back to the real one and join my family for dinner.

That’s when it occurred to me that Wondergarten was not our backyard, but a place—a mental space—where parents and children alike could go to learn, work, and play together. Wondergarten, as I might now describe it, is not just a school, brand, or children’s book, but an invitation back to the Kingdom of Childhood.

With every story, song, and illustration I created, each was like a little souvenir, a postcard, a memory of what it was like to be a child full of wonder again. Truly, each and every one of us longs to return back to the garden—the good and beautiful garden, the wonderful garden—where evil does not exist, where we are loved for who we are despite our flaws, and where the entire world lives in harmony together.

This is not just a picture of Eden, but a picture of what childhood can and ought to look like. Through these stories, songs, and illustrations, I hope that you, with your children, can step into this world, return to the Kingdom of Childhood, and revel in the simple joys of life once again—together.