First of all, I love the colors and the design of the cover. It's yellow and black, which screams to me: CAUTION! These colors work great for her message because instead of trying to scare the reader, she uses common sense ideas and suggestions that make you pay attention, assess your own situation, and want to do better.
Some of the topics covered in the book include:
* Water - We can only survive 3 days without water. Do you really have enough to drink, prepare food, and also provide for laundry and hygiene?
* Simplifying food storage - Store what you already eat.
* Emergency cooking devices - There are several options for cooking without power. Linda included the thermal cooker as one option because that's what she uses, but I personally use a wonder oven because it's even more versatile - it's an insulator for hot or cold.
* Surviving without power - Everything requires power, doesn't it?
* First Aid - Do you even have the basics stored?
* Hygiene - This is so important and so often overlooked.
* Laundry - Yes, it continues to pile up even in emergencies, so what do you do without power?
* Importance of pulling together - How families and communities can help each other.
* 72 Hour Kits - FEMA suggests every person have one because emergency teams just can't get to you the first day.
* Essential Documents - It is crucial to have your documents in one place in the event of an evacuation ... or even death. Linda leaves space in the book for you to record some of the information, but if you don't want to write in the book, you could put that information in a separate notebook, or visit Prepared In Every Way for another option that allows you to type the information and save it on a flash drive.
* Evacuation Plans - Where would you go? Does your family know where to meet? What if you're not all together when emergency strikes?
Prepare Your Family for Survival is good for someone who is just wanting to get started, but it's also a good checklist for those who may have been working on being prepared for years. It's a good review of the basics, and I know for me, her checklists helped me see that my own preps might not be as complete as I'd like them to be. This is where Linda's experience at using these ideas in her own life can benefit others.
I guess if there was anything I'd change about the book, and it has nothing to do with the information, but the print is a bit small for my aging eyes! When I first opened it, the print seemed really small, but once I got into it, my eyes adjusted and I had no problem at all. I'm sure the reason for the smaller print is so that her publisher could give us as much information as possible in just under 200 pages.
While I had intended to just flip through it one night and read it later, I found myself so interested that I read it cover to cover in one evening. Linda does a great job sharing her knowledge in a manner that is very easy to understand. It's almost like you've got Linda right there leading you through your own preparedness journey. Definitely an important resource for anyone wanting to be prepared for real emergencies.
Book available on Amazon.
