Who is a Stranger and What Should I Do? by Linda Walvoord Girard

Illustrated by Helen Cogancherry. 32 pages. Whitman, 1985.

This non-fiction book gives helpful information about how to respond to strangers in a variety of situations; for example, at school, in other public places, at your door, or on the phone. The author emphasizes that most strangers are nice, and in fact, all of your friends were strangers before you got to know them. She explains that bad strangers don't necessarily look bad. She defines strangers as people whose name and address you and your parents don't know, and whom you haven't gotten to know well, even if you recognize them. She tells kids that it's OK to say Hi to a stranger who has said Hi to you, but not to tell them personal information or to go anywhere with them. She appropriately encourages kids to ask for help from their parents, or other adults they know well, when a stranger is present. She also urges them to run away from strangers who behave inappropriately, and to go to a place where there are other people, especially a police officer or a woman with children. Practice exercises at the end ask the child reader what she or he would do in various situations. An afterword for parents encourages them to teach children about safety from abduction just as they teach fire and water safety, and to reassure them that abduction is rare. This book gives good, solid information, along with reassurance that bad strangers are rare.

Ages: 5-8
Cultural Context: multicultural