Additional Resources
Tips and links curated by a licensed child therapist to help you support the children in your life understand, cope with, and prepare for natural disasters.
Little Buck reading guide
Little Buck the Fire Truck is for all young children but was specially designed as a trauma-informed tool to help those who live in fire-prone areas process the experience of smoke, sirens, and evacuation. A licensed child therapist offers the following gentle tips to readers who may have fearful associations with wildfire:
Check in with yourself first.
Children look to us for clues about how to respond to situations and experiences. When supporting them through stress or trauma, it helps to first regulate our own emotions. If this is the case for you, try placing both feet on the floor and taking a slow, deep breath before you begin.
Keep it light.
It’s often fun to add a dramatic flair to storytime, but when the subject is potentially anxiety-inducing, it’s best to keep your tone light and steady.
Follow their lead.
Young children do much of their processing through repetition, so yours may ask to read this book – or just the siren sound! – again and again. Maybe they’ll interrupt you frequently to ask questions or study the pictures. Whatever they do, you can support them by following their lead (and offering a whole lot of hugs and cuddles too).
Supporting children who are survivors of trauma from natural disasters:
Coping After a Natural Disaster (Zero to Three)
Wildfire Resources (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network)
Children and Disasters (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
Impacts of Natural Disasters on Children (The Future of Children)
Helping Children Cope With Natural Disaster (American Red Cross)
Understanding and building resilience in children:
Resilience Overview (Disaster Philanthropy)
Resilience and Child Traumatic Stress (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network)
Building Resilience in the Aftermath of Natural Disasters (Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development)
Making Young Minds Resilient to Disasters (Harvard Medical School)
Connecting with children about climate change:
Including children in disaster preparedness:
Ready Kids (Ready.gov)
Activity Guidance for Early Childhood Development Kit for Emergencies (UNICEF)
Emergency Management – Kids (NYC.gov)
Emergencies (Sesame Workshop)
Teaching Kids About Emergency Preparedness (American Red Cross)
For families:
Family Preparedness Plan (Habitat for Humanity)
Disaster Checklist (Save the Children)
Planning for Disasters (Child Welfare Information Gateway)
For professionals serving families:
For child care professionals:
Childcare Emergency Preparedness (Child Care Aware)