“All around Palomar, I see daffodils that don’t need to be tended. They just pop up every year from bulbs. They are everywhere on the mountain – bright, yellow, and as the story mentions – they remind me of sunshine and laughter! Year after year, they come back – beautiful and as strong as ever!
Leah Stevens, was here on Palomar, with her daughter Sydney, sitting in front of our fire, sharing with me how her book came to be.
“I sing with Ella’s mom in church and witnessed their family’s battle with pediatric cancer firsthand. I imagined what it would feel like as a young girl to lose all of your hair to this illness. She began to grow it back, but then as her treatment progressed, she lost it again. Even through her battle, she was shining! She always had a sweet smile on her tiny face. I wanted to write a story, just for Ella.
One morning I woke up with the whole story outlined in my mind. But, I needed a artist! A couple weeks later, I was at my best friend’s home to pick up her children for a play date with my kids. I saw a painting on her wall that was beautiful, colorful, and painted with such loving detail. It was exactly the style I wanted for the book. I asked, “Who painted this?” It was her mother-in-law! Her mother-in-law was the artist!
I sent off my story to Kathy Peterson who got back to me immediately after reading the book – saying, “It would be my honor to illustrate your book for free.” What an amazing gift.
Though the story was written for Ella, the book started to touch many more people. When I asked Ella’s family if they could recommend an organization to benefit with the proceeds of my book, I was so impressed with their choice of KICKcancER. Since we saw they were short on funding for dispersing their KICKstart kits, Kathy and I thought it would be a wonderful thing to donate all our profits to eliminating the waiting list for these nurturing kits.”
Leah and her illustrator Kathy are donating books for KICKcancER to add to their kits, plus 100% of the profits of the book to KICKcancER Kits through December 15 of this year. They hope that people will be generous this Christmas season, and will partner with this project to eliminate the list for all of the children waiting for these amazing kits!
The author with daughter Sydney, above left, who she home-schools, and her niece, Avery who also is growing up at the Christian Conference Center on Palomar Mountain. “Again, read it again!”
See also:
The Littlest Daffodil press release
Author’s website, Grafted Shoot for more info and How to Order!
Another book Leah wrote with stories of Palomar woven through: https://palomarmountainnews.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/palomar-author-publishes-lunarium/
Palomar Mountain News 
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