GREEN BAY (NBC 26) -- Sixteen-year-old Ava Van Straten, a student at Notre Dame Academy, has published her first children's book, Mary’s Heart. In addition to the book, she has created a curriculum targeted for first through fourth grades. The book and curriculum are intended to promote kindness and reduce bullying.
According to a news release, to support online learning, Van Straten has also created a video version of her book and has shared it along with the curriculum with the seven Green Bay area school districts to support online learning. Copies of the curriculum and the video link can also be found on Facebook at Mary’s Kind Heart.
Mary’s Heart is the story of a girl who feels the physical and emotional impacts of her bullying versus kind choices. This is demonstrated through a kind plant and a mean plant in her heart, battling for the most space. Mean actions cause the weed to grow, and kind actions cause the kind plant to win, changing the girl’s physical and emotional well-being.
Presented by Ephraim Publishing, the book is written by Ava Van Straten and illustrated by Lieutenant Colonel David Jones, Ethic Chair for Character at West Point - United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. The book was also printed at Worzalla Printing, printer of the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid series.
