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With the skill of an exquisite artisan, Brenda Waggoner intricately weaves classic children's
stories with contemporary life-applications, stitching them together with compelling biblical
truth. The resulting book, Storybook Mentors, is a rich tapestry of variegated wisdom and
wonder, delighting the spirit, deepening the mind. Waggoner wisely understands that no matter
her age, deep inside every woman there still beats the heart of a precious child-innocent,
inquiring, intuitive. She also realizes that as adults stooped under the burdens of life, women
can lose the wonder, lose the joy. Take a nostalgic walk with Waggoner through the pages of
childhood's best-loved legends like Heidi and The Secret Garden and be transported to a
gentler, nobler time. Gather the blossoms of childhood and let their color and fragrance
sweeten your life today.
-Lynn D. Morrissey...

In Storybook Mentors: Grown-Up Wisdom From Children's Classics, licensed professional counselor Brenda Waggoner applies the theme of mentoring wisdom to fifteen classic children's stories. The stories are grouped into three categories: Children As Mentors (Anne of Green Gables - Imagination; A Little Princess - Hope; Heidi - Grace; Pippi Longstocking - Free Spirit; Pollyanna - Optimism); Friends As Mentors (Charlotte's Web - Sacrificial Love; The Little Engine That Could - Confidence; Black Beauty - Humility; The Secret Garden - Coming Alive); and Elders As Mentors (The Velveteen Rabbit - Becoming Real; Mary Poppins - Mystique); Little Women - Nurturing; The Giving Tree - The Joy of Giving; The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe - Redemption; Make Way For Ducklings - Homemaking). Each begins with a brief summary of the story (called "Crux of the Classic"); with each chapter making application of the mentor's truth to women's spiritual lives, and concludes with a section that connects the classic tale with Biblical truth ("Words of Old"). Unique, engaging, informative, and inspiring, Storybook Mentors is widely recommended reading for parents, teachers, counselors, youth workers, tutors, and anyone else with the responsibility for nurturing a young mind.

Through the eyes of a child, we understand with the heart and know without question that we are lavishly loved and completely accepted, even though we are deeply fallen. As adults, our life experiences may threaten to steal this sense of childlike security and joy, convincing us we're not really lovable or acceptable after all. Our hearts sometimes grow cold and cynical as we experience disappointments, loss, grief. We begin to "act strong" instead of asking for help when we need it; to laugh when we feel like crying, to pretend we're "just fine" when we're falling apart. Storybook Mentors is written for all who want to recapture the joy of childhood as they honestly face the realities of their grown-up lives. Although the magic formulas we once believed in don't always add up to an ideal life, and pretending doesn't work in the adult world, we don't have to give up our sense of wonder, creativity and imagination. In fact, these qualities help us enter into our faith more deeply and with greater freedom. Come along on an adventure back to the basics of childlike faith. Through the storylines of some classic heroines like Mary Poppins, Anne of Green Gables and Pippi Longstocking, let's revisit some familiar scenes and see what wisdom we may rediscover for living our grown-up lives courageously, authentically, with childlike joy.