A child's garden of verse — and more at the Museum of Rockville Centre at the Phillips House

In the shady garden of the Museum of Rockville Centre at the Phillips House on July 13, two groups of children were entranced as adult volunteers shared stories with them and encouraged discussion. The young students from the Rosa Lee Young Early Childhood Center and the Hispanic Brotherhood of Rockville Centre listened as museum board members Mary Jane Regan and John Challice read from a selection of children’s books purchased with a small grant from Astoria Federal Savings Bank. Regan, a retired educator, started by reading “The Giving Tree,” continued with a story about shoes from China and ended with “A Child’s Book of Blessings.” Challice kept the rapt attention of his group with stories from Australia.

After a cold drink and a snack, the children from the Hispanic Brotherhood entered the museum for a tour. They were transfixed by the collection of everyday household items from the days of yore that included a frankfurter maker, coffee grinder, egg scale, ice cream scoop, lemon juice squeezer and a nutcracker, as well as a mouse trap and a fly catcher. Other objects that fascinated the young visitors included an ice box, a collection of (non-electric) irons, a “firebomb” to smother fire in a chimney, fountain pens and the predecessor to today’s mobile phone — a working old-style pay phone.

Other museum staffers have volunteered to read to young students in the garden that is now in full bloom and take them on tours of the Phillips House on three dates in August — the 10th, 17th and 24th. For more information, call (516) 764-7459.