Publisher: National Center for Youth Issues
Publication Date: December 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-1937870270
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See Also: I’m Not Scared, I’m Prepared

After the Ant Hill School is destroyed, a little boy ant is afraid to go back to school.

His mom caringly explains to him that sometimes things happen in life over which we have no control, but we have to find a way to keep living and growing. To do that,

We breathe in and breathe out, and hold onto each other. We shed a lot of tears, and we love one another. We all come together as a strong team of ONE, and then we rebuild, and get things done!”

The Ant Hill Disaster thoughtfully addresses fears associated with both natural and human-caused disasters. It models effective parenting and teaching responses.

This book can help assure children that through love, empathetic understanding, preparation, and effective communication, they can stand strong, even in the midst of uncontrollable events.

Reviews

“The Ant Hill Disaster addresses the difficult task of talking to children about natural and man-caused disasters. With violent events happening in our world today, parents and educators are often at a loss of knowing what to say and how to say it. Julia has managed to effectively address this issue of moving forward when things happen that are out of our control. As much as we wish to shelter our children from knowing about these tragic events, they are a part of our reality and need to be addressed.”
~ Greg Crane, Founder/President of ALICE Training Institute (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate)

“This is a book that I would have read in my second grade classroom, a book that I have shared with my daughters in the wake of our tragedy. Though tragedy and loss leave us broken hearted, as The Ant Hill Disaster reveals, ‘together we are strong.’”
~ Michele Gay, Mother of Josephine Gay, Sandy Hook Angel Co-Founder of Safe and Sound: A Sandy Hook Initiative