This is the perfect book to kick off a new homeschooling year! Especially if you subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Education and/or LEMI (Leadership Education Mentoring Institute) philosophy. It’s all about the mentor’s path.

It starts out with Mrs. Badger going on a hike to Sugarloaf Peak. Along the way, she finds a friend, Lulu the Cat, who isn’t sure if she wants to join Mrs. Badger in the journey. Will Lulu hike with her or not? How does Mrs. Badger inspire her? What does Mrs. Badger do as a mentor when Lulu hesitates in coming?

If you want to remind yourself of how to be a great mother mentor, or you want to inspire other moms to be mentors to their own children or other children, read this book. If you are part of a commonwealth or any kind of homeschooling cooperative, I highly recommend you read this aloud in a group and discuss it for training for your new school year. It gives much food for thought.

At a recent training that my commonwealth did for the moms as mentors, we had enough copies of this book that we could read it in mostly pairs, with one threesome. Then we discussed it in those smaller groups. Then we reconvened in a larger group and discussed it all together. Here are some discussion questions:

1. What did you learn about how to mentor from Mrs. Badger?
2. What did you learn about the mentor’s path?
3. How can you apply what you learned from this book to your own children?
4. How can you apply what you learned from this book to relationships outside your home?
5. What do you feel inspired to do differently after reading this book?
6. What do you feel inspired to keep doing after reading this book?

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars! The text is concise and the illustrations are so simply charming. They remind me of Fumi Kosaka, the BYU college roommate of my artist sister, Emily, who has the same kind of sweet, cheery style. (You can read an interview Emily did with Fumi here.) Enjoy!