Community Corner

Pleasant Hill Adoptive Mom Pens Children's Book

"A Gift for Little Tree" is an adoption parable about a fruitless apple tree. The project was funded by contributions through Kickstarter.com.

A Pleasant Hill woman and mother of two adopted children has successfully funded a children's book project through the donation website, Kickstarter.com. The adoption parable, "A Gift for Little Tree" by Colleen Marquez, garnered $6,597 in donations, making national publication possible in 2013.

The idea for the book about a fruitless apple tree came from the author's own experience with infertility and adoption. Marquez tried unsuccessful for four years to have a baby, she explains on her Kickstarter page. Then it came time to buy a gift for friends who had adopted a son, and Marquez — adamant she would avoid baby stores — searched a nursery for a plant, perhaps a rose bush, to present to the new family. Instead, she found a bare root apple tree and the seeds of an idea that would change her life.

The tree had three types of apples on the branches, Marquez discovered, which were created by grafting buds from different apple trees. It was the perfect "adoption tree," she realized, and she bought it. Then Marquez awoke in the middle of the night to write a children's story book titled, "A Gift for Little Tree."

The story about a fruitless apple tree able to blossom with buds gifted from other trees in the orchard changed the author's perspective on adoption. Less than a year after writing the story, Marquez and her husband adopted a daughter.

"Before I wrote 'A Gift for Little Tree,' I wasn't sure if I could love a baby that wasn't from our own family tree," explains Marquez in a video about the project on Kickstarter.com. "But what I learned was more important than anything I could ever have imagined."

Marquez, who works as the director of outreach and development at Bethany Christian Services, is now mother to two adopted children. 

"A Gift for Little Tree" exceeded its $5,000 request for funding on May 26, with more than 114 supporters donating to the project.

Marquez says that because of the "overwhelming support," she plans to donate a hardcover first edition copy to an adoption agency, pregnancy center, library, or children's school in the name of every donor. Visit "A Gift for Little Tree" on Facebook for updates.


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