Wonderhearted, home

Our Story

Every Wonderhearted story starts with a real one. Not long ago, my son Bennett rang the bell at the end of his cancer treatment.

Bennett ringing the bell at the end of his cancer treatment, with his family cheering.

Getting there took years. Good days, hard days, and a lot of days in between. And along the way, I learned a few things from Bennett.

Kids are braver than they feel. Bennett didn’t always feel brave, and he didn’t have to. He kept showing up anyway, one appointment, one little step at a time.

Imagination is a kind of strength. Even on the hardest days, he found ways to play, to pretend, to make a scary world a little more his own.

  • Bennett in a green beanie holding his IV pole
  • Bennett laughing on a hospital bed
  • Bennett smiling in a dinosaur tank top on his hospital bed
  • Tara holding Bennett's hand as they walk down a hospital hallway
  • Bennett cheering with both arms in the air
  • Get-well cards from kids pinned to a board

Wonderhearted grew from those two ideas.

Maybe it’s the designer in me, but during Bennett’s treatment, I found myself asking a lot of questions about how things could be different for the families who came after us.

I started imagining adventure boxes that would bring stories to life through hands-on activities. Something that could give kids an adventure of their own, even if they were stuck in a hospital bed.

The Wonderhearted Hero is where I’ve started. It’s a story for any child who’s facing something hard and doesn’t feel brave yet.

I don’t know exactly what comes next, but I’d love to see Wonderhearted grow beyond the pages of a book. For now, my biggest hope is to put this book in the hands of newly diagnosed families, when they need it most.

— Tara L. Stone, Bennett’s Mom