Leslie Eva Tayloe

Award Winning Picture Book Author

Author Note, October – December, 2025

**** I’m offering a book bundle giveaway. Share a positive note about what you’re grateful for this season, and you’ll have a chance to win a bundle of both used and new books—plus one of my signed picture books. Send your note to me at leslieevatayloe.com/contacts page. 

Picture Book Showcase: 

Millie Fleur’s Poison Garden
By Christie Mandin
Orchard Books 2024

Christie is so talented! This story shines with themes of individuality, acceptance, creativity, weirdness, and a love of nature and gardening. Some people fear what’s different, but the story reminds readers that once you take the time to understand something unfamiliar, it’s often not so scary after all. The invented plant names add humor and charm—I laughed out loud more than once! The back matter is a great bonus, perfect for STEM and gardening tie-ins. If you haven’t read it yet, pick up a copy!

Every house, every garden looks the same—except the old house on a hill where Millie and her mom move in. Millie plants a wild, odd garden of plants with names like “Fanged Fairy Moss” and “Sore Toothwort,” much to the dismay of the neighbors’ “Rosebud Club” who deem it “poisonous.” Millie insists it isn’t poisonous, just not like theirs. Eventually, she invites peers and the teacher to visit her garden, and little by little the town begins to embrace “wonderfully weird” gardens.  

November and December are busy months—both personally and professionally. I’m planning Thanksgiving dinner, and even though we’re empty nesters, I still love cooking a big holiday meal. Between my partner, three grown children, and five grandchildren (with another on the way), there’s plenty of shopping and Christmas Eve and Day planning to do. My brother and his family are also visiting from Australia in December, which makes the season even more special.

Professionally, I have events lined up almost every weekend through November and December, hoping to close out the year by meeting new friends and sharing my three picture books with more readers.

Author Events this Quarter: 

October 2-3, 2025, SCBWI MidAtlantic Participant at the Virginia Library Association’s Annual Conference, Richmond, VA.

October 4, 2024, Signing at Turn the Page Bookshop, Williamsburg, VA. 12-4. 

November 1, 2025, Brooke Point Craft Fair, Stafford, Virginia, 9:00 – 2:30. 

November 6, 2025, Speaker for SCBWI Pennsylvania West, Virtual, 7:00pm EST, Presentation includes: Preparing Submission: What a writer needs to do before submission; Record keeping: How to organize and track your submissions, Finding Publishers: Where to search, Submitting your work:  Best practices, The query letter. https://www.scbwi.org/events/scbwi-pa-west-presents-helpful-tips-on-querying-a-publisher-with-leslie-eva-tayloe

November 8, 2025, Bell Creek Holiday Craft Show, American Legion Auxiliary, 8700 Bell Creek Road, Mechanicsville, VA, 9-4. CANCELLED

November 15, 2025, Holiday Bazaar and Craft Show, Mechnicsville, VA 9-2. 

November 29, 2025, 2025 Small Business Saturday at Hardywood RVA, vendor booth.

December 6, 2025, Christmas Festival, On the Bluffs of the Mattaponi River, Locust Grove, 590 Locust Grove Lane, Walkerton, VA, 10-4. Various artists will display their crafts.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and a Happy Holiday! 

~a book is a wonderful gift for anyone, a library, or a school~

See you in 2026! 
Best,
Leslie