books about stranger danger for over friendly 5yo?

[elliott]

My ds2 is a real extrovert with a knack of making friends wherever we are. I feel we need to teach him that not all people are friendly and that he must never go with a stranger - does anyone have any useful books or stories that might help with this?
I have tried explaining but I'm sure it hasn't sunk in.

Trying to imagine how a book like that would go...sort of a modern version of Little Red Riding Hood maybe?
I might be going against the grain here, I often am, but do you really need to drum into a five year old about 'stranger danger'? I mean by the time he is old enough to be in situations where he is in a position to go off with a stranger, he will have a better understanding of the concept, but for the moment his best safeguard is you. And if you explaining it hasn't sunk in, I'm not sure a book would do much good.
He sounds lovely btw, my DD2 is like this and I'd have hated to spoil her joy in the world by making her think that everyone outside her family was a possible paedophile.

well, on the whole I agree with you, and that's why I haven't done much about it yet. However I think it is now something that he needs to understand - he's reaching the age where he's not permanently in my sights and I just feel at present he is quite vulnerable.

I also wouldn't get a book or scare him, just wait for the right moment when you are out or whatever, like if he does go out of your sight or they make an announcement that a child is lost, or if he sees something on the news about a missing child or whatever, and say very seriously and firmly that he must never, never go off with anyone he doesn't know, but I agree with lady glencora that he isn't old enough for more..

topsy and tim, can't go wrong with topsy and tim

the only way I have talked about this with ds is to ask him what he would do if someone asked him to go with them or to get into their car, sometimes as part of Red Riding Hood, or Hansel and Gretel...I try and do a little roleplay... tbh I don't think it helps much, as he soon learns what I want him to say, not sure it has really 'gone in'. I never say he should not talk to strangers as I strongly believe we are all safer if we talk to each other and I don't want to stop him doing this.

what about this

I do know what you mean

DD1 is also 5 and will talk to anyone

It is lovely - she is a confident and assertive child who is happy to talk and interact with people. And most of the time I'm reassured by that, that these are traits that are protective, in a way... but I do worry sometimes because whilst she is so young she hasn't yet got the ability to make correct (if that's the right word - probably not) judgements about people she doesn't know

It's a difficult one

Thanks for the book link - that one gets mixed reviews but I'll check out some of the related titles.
Its quite difficult to convey the right message isn't it? I know his natural talent of engaging with people will be a huge advantage to him in life, but he does need to be taught the basics of self preservation. Which really means never going off with people - at the moment he would just think -yeah this sounds fun! and be led away without a second thought, which is kind of scary.

I know where you are coming from - I was once on a bus, when a complete stranger started talking to my DD along the lines of... "Hello, X this must be your little sister Y and is this your friend Z?" Turns out whilst I had been changing her baby sister in the baby change (Too small for DD to be in as well, so I left her on the seat just outside) - she had met this stranger, and had told the stranger, her name, her sister's name, how old she is, how old her sister is, where she lived and more. All in the time it took me to change a nappy!

I knew then that I had to speak to her about stranger danger. I didn't get a book, but kind of related it to dogs - she knew that some dogs are nice friendly dogs, other dogs are not friendly, and you don't know which ones are which - so we kind of said that it is the same with strangers - some are nice, some are not, but you can't always tell which ones are nice. I didn't want to dampen her spirit - she is a lovely, chatty girl who really will talk the hind legs of a donkey. So instead we put the emphasis on boundaries. DD knows that she is allowed to go off and play within a shop or building say, but is not allowed to leave without me. She also knows that she is allowed to talk to people, but not allowed to go off with them. She knows that If I ask her to wait somewhere, she must wait where she has been asked and so on... So we have approached this from a 'responsibility' approach, not focussing on strangers per se, but about her being given more freedom in return for her acting more responsible.
HTH

PS My DD is 5 too!

There are some resources here at Kidscape like this one Elliot:

www.kidscape.org.uk/KSCart/KSResults.asp?parProductID=69