Six weeks after the World Trade center attacks, the New York City Parks Department discovered a callery pear tree buried in the rubble with one green leaf still remaining. They took it to the Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, where it was nursed back to health. It was later taken back to the 9/11 Memorial in 2010 and is the only tree there today that is not an oak.
The 9/11 Museum asked us to create a children’s book for those who were not born during that time or were too young to remember that day. The story of The Survivor Tree is told in a beautiful, heartwarming way while also leaving room for interpretation.
