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A Smart Girl's Guide...
Staying Home Alone: a girl's guide to feeling safe and having fun
This popular book is now updated with new illustrations and advice that will help you feel confident and in control when you're home alone. It includes boredom busters, fun-for-one ideas, quizzes, neighborhood know-how, snack recipes, safety tips, first-aid information, and sibling survival secrets. Plus, this girl-friendly guide features a handy tear-out booklet for keeping track of important information and house rules.
61 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 21, 2018
Do you hear that weird sound coming from downstairs whenever you are alone? Do you want to have fun but don’t know how? Are you scared to lose the house key? If your answer is “yes”, you will find answers and advice for your problem and be more comfortable at home even when you are alone.
Background designs of the pages are matching very well with the theme. There are short quizzes before each section, so you can find out what you have to do. Some activities in the book will entertain you but because this is not a novel if you read it all at once, you may lose your enthusiasm.
Also, there are comments of girls from all over America and you will see you are not alone. There are girls who are also sharing your feelings, ideas, and comments.
If you want to be a knowledgeable girl you can read the other books in this series. They will give you different perspectives; you will protect yourself better from the world’s dangers and educate yourself to become a strong woman in the future
Good luck on your way home, at home when you are alone, and on your successful life, Powerful Girl!
Background designs of the pages are matching very well with the theme. There are short quizzes before each section, so you can find out what you have to do. Some activities in the book will entertain you but because this is not a novel if you read it all at once, you may lose your enthusiasm.
Also, there are comments of girls from all over America and you will see you are not alone. There are girls who are also sharing your feelings, ideas, and comments.
If you want to be a knowledgeable girl you can read the other books in this series. They will give you different perspectives; you will protect yourself better from the world’s dangers and educate yourself to become a strong woman in the future
Good luck on your way home, at home when you are alone, and on your successful life, Powerful Girl!
January 18, 2016
We've done this book before with our kids at the appropriate time, and the older kids also have done the American Red Cross babysitting class. I thought the book was a short, but good discussion-starter. It covered some things I would not have thought about, but it left out others I wanted to discuss.
One of my older kids also has the guide from this series about middle school.
One of my older kids also has the guide from this series about middle school.
January 22, 2012
So far this book is ok but it has amazingly useful tips!
January 14, 2023
This is a great guide to staying home alone for the first time or if you're already staying home alone but having trouble. It's so well laid out with safety information, how to handle injuries (very light and not scary at all, in my opinion - totally appropriate for young kids), exactly what topics to talk to parents about and even has a pull out card of what info to fill out. (Like what order to do things once home and if allowed to use the phone or computer, whether to answer the home phone or not and if so, what to say and not say, and a lot more.)
There's also mention of trusting your gut instincts, those funny feelings when you see something strange or hear a noise. It mentions to go on a noise hunt with your parents to get used to the noises of your home.
It talks about those funny feelings you sometimes get and not to panic but not to ignore them. Like if you see a van parked across the street while cart-wheeling in the front yard and feel weird about it, don't question your feeling, go inside and lock the door and call your parents for guidance. The point is not to be scared, but to pay attention to those feelings and honor them.
The book even explains a little bit of what fear is and why it's important and how to handle it. For example, it suggests if you (the child, though this would work for an adult, too) are scared but it was just a noise or something that isn't dangerous but now you're nervous, do 20 jumping jacks or jog in place and when you're done, your heart will begin to beat at its normal pace again.
It doesn't say it, but it's so important once startled - once our human fear response is activated - to do something physical to get those chemicals moving through the system and dissipated healthily.
There is such great advice in here, not just for kids staying home alone for the first time, but for adults handling fear as well!
A very well-thought out guide with a lot of specificity.
There's also mention of trusting your gut instincts, those funny feelings when you see something strange or hear a noise. It mentions to go on a noise hunt with your parents to get used to the noises of your home.
It talks about those funny feelings you sometimes get and not to panic but not to ignore them. Like if you see a van parked across the street while cart-wheeling in the front yard and feel weird about it, don't question your feeling, go inside and lock the door and call your parents for guidance. The point is not to be scared, but to pay attention to those feelings and honor them.
The book even explains a little bit of what fear is and why it's important and how to handle it. For example, it suggests if you (the child, though this would work for an adult, too) are scared but it was just a noise or something that isn't dangerous but now you're nervous, do 20 jumping jacks or jog in place and when you're done, your heart will begin to beat at its normal pace again.
It doesn't say it, but it's so important once startled - once our human fear response is activated - to do something physical to get those chemicals moving through the system and dissipated healthily.
There is such great advice in here, not just for kids staying home alone for the first time, but for adults handling fear as well!
A very well-thought out guide with a lot of specificity.
May 12, 2017
i really like it it really helps me when i am at my house all alone
it was good .
I really like the book.
it is a great book.
and it helps me at my house.
it helps me when I am home alone and gets me get ready for when I stay home alone every day that I come home from school.
it was good .
I really like the book.
it is a great book.
and it helps me at my house.
it helps me when I am home alone and gets me get ready for when I stay home alone every day that I come home from school.
December 28, 2017
Iti
C if they have been in contact you know that it was just thinking I should go o,but they have the right time,which was
C if they have been in contact you know that it was just thinking I should go o,but they have the right time,which was
June 25, 2022
This is a very good book. The Smart Girls Guide books have yet to disappoint me. They are always good and always have excellent advice.
August 26, 2015
This book from the American Girl series does a great job of detailing information that will make my children more comfortable when they need to stay home alone. Because my older daughter has struggled with this concept, I am eager to have her read this and see if it helps her. The book deals with being alone from more of a step-by-step scientific approach. Because the drama is removed, I think she will respond well to the checklists and will be more confident as a result.
March 27, 2014
Great book.
I really like this book because of how reassuring the author is. she really seams to make you feel as if everything is alright. The only thing I would change is the author's tip on " if you see someone in your yard" thing. I wish she would get a bit deeper in that content. Other than that though, it was very good.
I really like this book because of how reassuring the author is. she really seams to make you feel as if everything is alright. The only thing I would change is the author's tip on " if you see someone in your yard" thing. I wish she would get a bit deeper in that content. Other than that though, it was very good.
June 11, 2011
Very helpful!
January 7, 2012
This book has some good stuff, and some bad stuff in it. Overall, I think it's 4 stars.
Read
March 18, 2012Good book.Made me feel better about staying home alone.
March 25, 2012
Good book.
July 6, 2013
Really good at covering many aspects and possible situation. I believe this book would work for boys just as well.
July 4, 2014
at first it was good but now I hate the end
May 11, 2015
This is a very helpful book. I love all the ideas of things to do and snack ideas.
August 30, 2016
It was ☺ not
December 1, 2010
This guide is helpful.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews










