For Parents
No one will talk to your child about their safety like you.
Listen, Run, Hide is a picture book for K–3 children (ages 5–8) that helps families talk about lockdown drills in a way that is honest, age appropriate, and always puts your child's safety first.
“This book is a great opportunity to empower your entire family and strip away some of the fear.”
Katherine Schweit
Creator of the FBI's Active Shooter Program
Read the full foreword →
“Emily Romrell's book is a gift to parents struggling with today's most frightening topic, violence in schools. Without using frightening words, her characters come to life; a mom, dad, and child simply having a conversation over dinner...
In my 20 years as Special Agent with the FBI and as a former prosecutor in Chicago, I saw victims struggle to understand and second guess what they could have done differently. After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, I created the FBI's active shooter program, focusing first on supporting law enforcement needs. Soon I understood that families, teachers, and others craved guidance.
This book is a great opportunity to empower your entire family and strip away some of the fear. Learn how to open conversations and, when appropriate, assure children and yourself that the most frightening things in the news today (school shootings) are extremely rare.
Hats off to Emily Romrell for providing this fantastic resource. I urge you to share this book with your friends, your school and public library staff, and pre-school teachers.”
Katherine Schweit
Creator of the FBI's Active Shooter Program · Former FBI Special Agent
What makes Listen, Run, Hide different
Teaches kids to be active rather than passive in emergencies.
The only lockdown drill book designed to engage the whole family.
Maintains trust with young children by being honest and age appropriate, not metaphorical.
Answers the question everyone avoids: "What if I'm trapped in the hallway?"
Collaborated with pediatric mental health experts to ensure emotional safety.
Collaborated with the creator of the FBI's Active Shooter Program and other school safety experts.
Includes a parent guide at the back with practical questions and conversation starters.
The lessons extend beyond school safety. They apply to any emergency.
Why Listen, Run, Hide?
The FBI recommends “Run, Hide, Fight” for adults in active shooter situations. Listen, Run, Hide is the age-appropriate version for young children:
Listen
Listen to the adults around you and follow their directions
Run
Get away and get to safety
Hide
Put a locked barrier between you and harm
“Fight” is deliberately excluded. We want young children getting away to safety, not confronting danger.
These lessons extend beyond school
A child who read this book put its lessons into action when her family's electrical panel exploded. When her mother called out, she listened and ran out of the house to safety, exactly as the book teaches.
The same skills that prepare a child for a school emergency prepare them for any emergency.
What parents are saying
“When my preschooler came home talking about hiding in his teacher's closet for a lockdown drill, I felt so sad and mad. When he started asking questions I didn't know what to say. Until I read this book. This book is not scary at all and really helped me and my son talk about lockdown drills.”
Garrett
Verified Amazon Reviewer
“From the bottom of my mama heart, thank you for this much needed resource. I am impressed by how well-researched it is. It even has a foreword from the creator of the FBI's active shooter program.”
Alina L.
Verified Amazon Reviewer
“Who else is talking about such a hard topic in such a gentle, actionable, and confident way? It gives confidence to the parent and child as they read.”
Amazon Customer
Verified Reviewer
“When we are unable to have tough conversations about big, scary topics, we allow our children to sit with their worries. By having conversations such as the one modeled in Listen, Run, Hide, parents are able to answer questions, listen to concerns, and calm worries by making a plan.”
Mrs. Caitlin Hraban, M.Ed
School Counselor, 8 years
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