Most children, especially children on the autism spectrum, accept adults' friendliness at face value. Sometimes it can have tragic consequences. Written by a Deputy Sheriff, this book is credited with foiling at least 22 stranger abductions. Characters Bobby and Mandee explain stranger danger in a way that is accessible, but not frightening, for children. Read it to your child and role-play different scenarios. Create a password only you and your child know, label backpacks on the inside (so strangers won't know your name). Strangers can be men or women, old or young. Adults should not touch, give gifts to, or ask for help from children. If they do, don't keep it a secret! Tell an adult! Arm your child with the knowledge that may save his or her life.

Further Reading/Content Consultants/Book List/Sidebars/Index/Safe Web sites at www.FactHound.com National Science Education Standards: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Content Standard F: Personal Health National Standards for Physical Education Quizzes at www.picturewindowbooks.com

Lu won’t go with just anyone! Lu is waiting to be picked up after school. She stands on the sidewalk, all alone, and it starts to rain. Ms. Smith walks by, and offers to take her home. Ms. Smith lives in Lu’s neighborhood—but does Lu really know her? Lu asks herself, what’s her first name? Does she dye her hair red? What’s her dog’s name? And she says, “I don’t know you, so I won’t go with you! And besides, Mama said I should wait.” As other adults—all of whom Lu has met in some capacity before—offer to take her home, Lu continues to consider if she really knows them. One by one, she refuses to go with them. Until, finally, the person Mama said she should go home with shows up—though his appearance is a surprise to the reader! This sensitively narrated story illustrates how clear rules and arrangements can help protect and empower children during an especially vulnerable time of day. The ending includes a prompt for readers to create their own similar “safe” list, and a list of resources for parents.

Josh Ryan knew he wasn't going to heed his own warning. A single mom and a baby on the run? Two men in hot pursuit? Josh's ranger training and his Texas roots left him no choice—he was hardwired to help. Rule #2: Do anything to save her But the battle-scarred ex-soldier didn't want to be a hero. And now the very worst had happened—he had fallen in too deep. Clare had gotten under his skin, and her little son was looking at him with adoring eyes. He'd broken the unwritten code, making Clare even more of a target in the process. To save her, he would have to do the unthinkable. He'd have to make her go.…

Carlos walks home from school with his younger friend Pablo and teaches him which strangers are safe to ask for help and which aren't.

Simple, straightforward text and photographs give readers the information they need to know to stay safe around strangers.