PELLA, Iowa — Animal statues can be seen across downtown Pella, bringing a children’s story to life while also honoring special community members.

Pella Parks, the Pella Public Library, and the Pella Arts Center all collaborated to host the “Let’s Get Wild” project. It was funded by the Vermeer Charitable Foundation.

Throughout the summer, the City of Pella Parks Department has been adding animal sculptures that represent characters in the book into flower beds and trees across the town square.

The children’s book, Wild was written by Pella’s horticulturist Marcy Simbro-Woodhouse. The lead instructor at the Arts Center, Mary Robertson, and a student at Central College, Kaylee Marie, illustrated the book.

The coloring book is now available at the Pella Public Library for free. Anyone can pick up a copy and take part in the project, merging reading, art, and outdoor activity.

At the back of the book, a map outlines all of the locations where animal statues can be found. A majority of the statues are located at Central Park, but the other locations include West Market Park, Sunken Gardens Park, Klokkenspel, and South Park.

Park-goers can physically walk through the book, reading pages that are printed on signs and meeting the characters in statue form.

At Central Park, visitors can see two giraffes, two turtles, a lion, an elephant, and two geckos. While most are hard to miss, some animals may be difficult to spot. For example, the geckos are located on a tree.

Since the author is a horticulturist, she curated each animal with specific flowers and plants. The giraffe statues are made of metal, but they’re surrounded by flowers. Other animals, like the lion and the turtles, are entirely made out of plants.

“It was a fun way to bring the library outside. A lot of people think the library is just the four walls inside, and it’s not. It’s a community place and we just want everybody to enjoy that we can bring it outside as well,” said Pella Public Library’s Youth Services Librarian, Katie Dreyer.

This is the first time that Pella Parks collaborated with the public library and the arts center to host a project. While they wanted it to be fun, they also wanted it to be meaningful.

Six of the animals have nametags, showing that they are named in honor of special residents in the community.

The giraffes on display near the Central Park Fountain are named after Stella Turnbull and Milly Zellmer. Stella was diagnosed at a month of age with Spinal Muscular Atrophy and graduated from Pella High School in 2025. She passed away in June. Milly is a young girl who was killed in a sledding accident in 2023.

The lion is named after JT Atchison, who graduated in 2023 and passed while training to become a soldier with the U.S. Army.

The elephant is named after Filson Newman. Filson had Sanfilippo Syndrome Type A and died in 2022.

The two turtles are named after Grace Diers and Estella Henderson. Grace passed away earlier this year at the age of 16. Estella was diagnosed with Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood, or AHC, which causes episodes of paralysis, dystonia, and nystagmus without warning. Estella is still fighting her battle today, and her family is raising money to develop a gene therapy treatment through the nonprofit called Estella’s Wish. The nonprofit’s website states the family needs $3 million to pay for Estella’s treatment. All remaining funds will be donated to AHC organizations.

Dreyer said that while some of the children may have had diagnoses, their diagnoses don’t define them. She said they are all full of joy, kindness, and the wonder of childhood, which is why the city wanted to honor them.

“We just felt this was a great way to keep their memory alive and be able to come up and talk to them every day,” said Robertson.

The project will be available to view throughout the summer. Tulips for next year’s Tulip Time will replace the animal statues around the time of the first frost.