Grow a Heart

HER PASSION

+ inspiration

BY SHEILA DECHANTAL

In a world where you can be anything, be kind.

Stefanie DeVries is a woman of many hats. She is a mother, wife, teacher, photographer, blogger, graphic designer, as well as an author — just to name a few of her passions. You could say she puts her heart into everything she does.

One of Stefanie’s passions is children. She has been a preschool teacher for 10 years as well as a mom of two, her 14-year-old daughter Ada, and 11-year-old son, Ian. Stefanie instilled in her children the importance of being kind to others, seeing how unkind our world can be at times and understanding the importance of teaching these values from an early age. It was important for her to be sure her own children understood the power of words and how they could be used to lift up others, as well as themselves. Stefanie also began to share these same values in her classroom.

“I became passionate about the importance of fostering social and emotional learning in young children,” Stefanie shared. “I wanted to help children feel and express empathy and better understand how their words and actions can affect others.”

An idea began to develop to create a book that taught these values in a way that young children could understand. While Stefanie knew of other books with this concept, these books, she felt, were not for the age group she wanted to reach, between birth and 6 years old. She wanted to create something with simple illustrations and an easy-to-follow rhyme scheme.

The first draft of her book, “Grow a Heart,” began to come together during COVID. Stefanie laughed as she shared, “I had to teach myself how to use Adobe again.” With positive feedback from friends, family and fellow teachers, Stefanie decided to use Kickstarter as her platform to launch not only the idea of the book, but to find supporters to help her reach her publishing goal. “I worked with my friend who owns and operates Rodney K Press Publishing to bring my book forward. She helped me to create a Kickstarter campaign to offset costs associated with bringing a book to print, and honestly, I was amazed at the incredible support that came not only from people I knew, but also many I did not — including supporters from other countries. I would most likely use Kickstarter again for such a project,” Stefanie said.

The Kickstarter campaign was a success. For a $25 pledge, Stefanie offered a copy of the printed book. For a $30 pledge, customers would receive a signed copy of the book. With a goal of $5,000, she surpassed it with 103 backers of her idea. In September of 2021, Stefanie’s vision became reality as she held the hard cover printed copy of her book.

The book centers around positive reinforcement when doing good things. In Stef’s classroom setting, she has set up a large board which she fills with hearts with the children’s names on them when they do something that is an example of “growing a heart.” Some of the things that earn a heart are: setting a good example, taking turns, sharing and inviting someone to play or to sit next to them.

Once the book was published, Stef has been able to offer it for sale in several locations locally as well as on her website, mudandmagnolia.com, where she also shares both her and her husband Matt’s passion for photography, design, pottery and gardening.

Stefanie has put together a packet of classroom activities that complement the book including offering teaching and writing prompts, coloring pages and art activities. She is very open to speaking engagements, sharing the book, as well as the curriculum she has put together with other classrooms and groups.

So, what’s next?

Stefanie has ideas for another book, maybe two. As she was very shy as a child, “Grow a Smile” is a title for a book she is thinking about, and maybe, at some point, the “Grow a” books could become a series created for young minds as they grow to become the future of our community.

grow a heart

Stefanie grew up in northern Minnesota and other than college, has continued to live in now central Minnesota. She feels fortunate to be able to raise her family in such a wonderful community. Photo by Joey Halvorson Th hT e bo ook ko cen nte ters r aro oun nu d

Sheila DeChantal Sheila DeChantal is an event coordinator, freelance writer and adventure seeker. She loves to plan and execute events that benefit our community. Sheila is the Friends of the Brainerd Public Library president, secretary on the City Library Board and vice president of Camp Benedict, a camp for those infected and affected by the AIDS virus. You can find her writing about life and books at bookjourney.net. In her free time, she enjoys biking, hiking, campfires, time with family and friends and snuggling up to her new grandbaby, Kylie.