The Story Garden, located at 832 14th St. N., is the creation of Megan and Jason Kotsko. It will be St. Pete’s only dedicated children’s bookstore and is set to open by Halloween 2024. The quaint, 800-square-foot building once served as the neighborhood grocery store in the 1920s.

Megan recalls how she and Jason would often look at the abandoned grocery store across from their home and imagine what it could become—perhaps a little café, a cozy book nook, or maybe even another grocery store to revitalize the area. But no one came, and nothing changed.

Megan, a former kindergarten and first-grade teacher, has been a stay-at-home mom for the past five years, caring for her 3.5-year-old and 5-year-old children. She wondered, “Should I go back to teaching? What should I do next?” Megan realized that St. Pete lacked a dedicated children’s bookstore. Meanwhile, the old grocery store across the street continued to crumble.

“I want children to have ownership…”

When Story Garden officially opens around Halloween, the front of the store will feature a full retail section, offering puppets, stuffed animals, how-to-draw activity books, and much more. The back of the store, which takes up about one-third of the total space, will be dedicated to children’s events. It will include a child-sized stage for reading events, classes, programs, and author visits.

The store will stock books for children ages 0-13, organized by age. Books for younger children will be placed on lower shelves, while those for older kids will be on higher shelves. “I want children to have ownership over the books they select,” says Megan. Organizing the store this way encourages that ownership, giving children the agency to choose their own books and stories.

Play me a story with your local children’s bookstore

Until the bookstore officially opens, The Story Garden is piloting some programs at Run and Play Kids Café (3950 Central Ave.). The current program, called “Play Me a Story,” offers children and their parents or caregivers an engaging reading experience. It features an immersive read-aloud session that includes movement, repetition, and dialogue, followed by related play activities. “It begins with a story,” says Megan, “and then they engage in play based on the story, bringing its meaning into their own lives.”

They recently read Mix It Up, a story all about mixing colors. After the reading, the children engaged in various color-mixing activities, including art projects and building with colored blocks. The full program costs $25, but the reading session is free. The program lasts one hour, with 20 minutes dedicated to reading and 40 minutes to play. You can purchase tickets in advance through their website.

The Story Garden owners, Megan and Jason, seem to be doing the same as the kids. It begins with a little story—in their case, a daydream about what an abandoned, squat, 100-year-old grocery store might be—then they, as Megan says, “engage in play based on the story, giving the story meaning in their own lives.”

Follow The Story Garden on Instagram here.