When Things Seem Odd: Polly and the Internal Guardian

As you will discover by reading this book, the term "stranger danger" is not only misleading to children, it actually does more harm than good. By the constant reminder that a child encounters by media, adults and television programs about never talking to strangers, children are often left confused and powerless of how to deal with the many strangers they come across on a day to day bases. Secondly, this book aims to teach children to become aware of their instincts (feelings of uneasiness, suspicion or otherwise their apprehension) when it is appropriate and important to do so and when it comes to people and situations they encounter as they go about their lives. Not just people of whom they do not know (strangers), but also of people of whom they may already know. Finally, this book is in two parts: The first part are the three short stories of Polly, a fictional character, that describes in detail certain dilemmas she encounters when she becomes lost, first at a grocery store, next at the fair and then in the third story, the close encounter she experiences of nearly being abducted by a stranger. The stories go into detail about the positive aspects that Polly took each time to protect herself in each case scenario. The encounters are based on a realistic chain of circumstances. The second part of this book is aimed towards parents to look at self-protection strategies suggested by some of the world's most prestigious experts on the subject of child safety and the criminal mind.