The Empathy Reads Collection is here!
Today marks the launch date of the 2025 Empathy Reads - two collections of books for both primary and secondary aged children which have been selected by an expert panel of judges for their empathy building power.
“Empathy is a skill, not a trait. It is learnable” says the judging panel, “without it, children can’t develop the relationships they need to thrive. Society needs to pay much greater attention to the way books develop empathy understanding and skills. Let’s urgently scale our unique UK book-based empathy education movement”.
Each book in the collection offers different ways of experiencing, understanding and building empathy. The collection features books by a diverse group of new and established authors and illustrators, including George the Poet, former Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho, Phil Earle and Hannah Gold.
Contemporary themes highlight the big social issues our children face, including
characters affected by poverty, prejudice and racism. Many books underline the
importance of understanding other people’s points of view, and respecting differences.
Others address the urgent need for empathy for the environment, the conflicting
expectations placed on young people, and empathy’s power to build stronger
communities. There is a special section devoted to books which help young readers
understand and share emotions.
We, like our great friends at Empathy Lab, fully believe in the power of books to build empathy and harness that power for a better world. That said, we're looking forward to showcasing books from the collections here in the shop and we'll be joining Empathy Lab in celebrating their Empathy Festival from 2nd - 12th June. Watch this space for further updates!
Schools can register now for free Empathy Day Festival resources and
events. Register at: www.empathylab.uk/Eday-registration. If you're a school, nursery or college and you'd like support with purchase of any of the books in the collection or planning your Empathy Festival activities, get in touch on kirsty@kibworthbooks.com
For further information on Empathy Lab and Empathy day, visit www.empathylab.uk