About The Author
Brittany Perkins Castillo

Brittany Perkins Castillo is Chief Executive Officer of AshBritt, a national, emergency management, logistics, and disaster response contractor. Since 1992, AshBritt has been integral to more than 400 emergency management missions having served 600 clients across the United States and Caribbean. Prior to joining AshBritt, Brittany was a prosecutor, managed a law practice in Austin, Texas, and was a program manager in Doha, Qatar. Brittany served on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ Transition Advisory Committee on Environment, Natural Resources & Agriculture. Brittany is also the co-author of the international best-seller Leading Through the Pandemic: Unconventional Wisdom from Heartfelt Leaders and her work as CEO was recently profiled in Forbes.

Even the most calm and prepared adults experience stress, worry, and disarray after a disaster or emergency event. Kids experience the same emotions as adults, often without rational thinking or knowledge to ground them.

The author and her team have created this book after many years of living and working in communities after crisis events. They have listened to and observed numerous community-based responses to disasters. A consistent theme in all communities - regardless of the disaster type - is when and how to best talk to kids about these traumatic events. This book is a tool to support these important conversations at a family level, at school, or in the community. Our hope is that it will:

• Serve as a communication and learning tool for kids and caregivers in planning for or responding to disasters;
• Provide something for your little ones to do post-disaster when they need safe, kid-friendly, low-tech activities and when parents need to do the “adult things” in response and recovery;
• Take time to color or solve a puzzle with the kids in your life. Fun and connection are healthy for adults too!