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Books by Eve Ainsworth, Maisie Chan and Waterstones Children’s Laureate Joseph Coehlo have been named among EmpathyLabs’ Read for Empathy book collection 2023.
In total, 65 books for ages three to 16, chosen by a panel of 12 judges made up of teachers and librarians from across the UK, have been selected for their "empathy-building insight".
The list includes picture books, novels, poetry, non-fiction, graphic and verse novels. The organisers say each one offers young people different ways of experiencing, understanding and building empathy – ranging from inspiring social activism to exploring the power of empathy to heal difficult relationships.
EmpathyLab’s founder, Miranda McKearney, said: “Each of the collection’s wonderful books has been chosen to do a specific empathy-building job, giving educators practical tools to raise an empathy-educated generation. Imagine the power of every child being inspired to learn about the importance of empathy, and develop this critical life skill – the future would be in safe hands.”
The judges said: “We’ve been reading for nine months, carefully choosing a 2023 Read for Empathy collection with maximum relevance, against the background of everything our young people face, from societal divisions to the pandemic’s aftermath. The books help young readers learn about empathy’s power to connect us and develop understanding of other people’s experiences and ways of life. They do not shy away from life’s difficulties, but bring hope and healing in the face of these.”
The 2023 Read for Empathy collection of books will be used by parents, carers, teachers and librarians, using books to develop empathy, in the run-up to and beyond Empathy Day on 8th June.
The full list of selected books can be found below:
Understanding and Sharing Emotions
Sometimes I’m a Baby Bear, Sometimes I’m a Snail by Moira Butterfield & Gwen Millward (Welbeck Editions)
What If, Pig? by Linzie Hunter (HarperCollins’ Children’s Books)
Sometimes I Am Furious by Timothy Knapman & Joe Berger (Macmillan Children’s Books)
The River by Tom Percival (Simon & Schuster)
Storm Goliath by James Sellick & Craig Shuttlewood (New Frontier Publishing)
Everybody Has Feelings by Jon Burgerman (Oxford University Press)
The Stompysaurus by Rachel Bright & Chris Chatterton (Orchard Books)
Picture Books
I Am the Subway by Kim Hyo-Eun (Scribble UK)
Our Tower by Joseph Coelho, Illustrator Richard Johnson Frances (Lincoln Children’s Books)
Saving the Butterfly by Helen Cooper (Walker Books)
That’s Nice Love by Owen Gent (Book Island)
The Can Caravan by Richard O’Neill, Illustrator Cindy Kang (Child’s Play)
The Comet by Joe Todd-Stanton (Flying Eye Books)
The Queen on Our Corner by Lucy Christopher, Illustrator Nia Tudor (Lantana)
Valentine’s Guest House by Sam Sharland (Child’s Play)
Yes You Can, Cow! by Rashmi Sirdeshpande, Illustrator Rikin Parekh (Faber and Faber)
Early Readers
All to Play For by Eve Ainsworth (Barrington Stoke)
Sidney Makes a Wish by Lisa Thompson (Barrington Stoke)
Nikhil and Jay: The Star Birthday by Chitra Soundar (Otter-Barry Books)
The Boy Who Grew a Tree by Polly Ho-Yen, Illustrator Sojung Kim-McCarthy (Knights Of)
Non-Fiction
First Questions and Answers: What is Racism? by Katie Daynes, Jordan Akpojaro, Illustrator Sandhya Prabhat (Usborne)
Who Are You? by Smriti Halls, Illustrator Ali Pye (Red Shed)
Graphic Novels
Frankie’s World by Aoife Dooley (Scholastic)
Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear by Trang Nguyen, Illustrator Jeet Zdung (Macmillan Children’s Books)
The Awakening Storm (City of Dragon 1) by Jaimal Yogis, Illustrator Vivian Truong (Scholastic)
Novels
The Tide Singer by Eloise Williams (Barrington Stoke)
Call Me Lion by Camilla Chester (Firefly Press)
Can You Feel the Noise? by Stewart Foster (Simon & Schuster)
Children of the Benin Kingdom by Dinah Orji (Dinosaur Books)
Cuckoo Summer by Jonathan Tulloch (Andersen Press)
Has Anyone Seen Archie Ebbs? by Simon Packham (Firefly Press)
Keep Dancing, Lizzie Chu by Maisie Chan (Bonnier)
Rosie Raja: Churchill’s Spy by Sufiya Ahmed (Bloomsbury)
The Boy Who Lied by Kim Slater (Macmillan Children’s Books)
The Good Turn by Sharna Jackson (Puffin Books)
The Last Firefox by Lee Newbery (Puffin Books [also available in Welsh])
Poetry
Cloud Soup by Kate Wakeling, Illustrator Elina Braslina (Emma Press)
Courage In a Poem by Cecilia Knapp, Debjani Chatterjee, Valerie Bloom, Mandy Coe and 16 others, Illustrators Annalise Barber, Mariana Roldan, Masha Manapov, Nabila Adani (Little Tiger)
Here Be Monsters by Jay Hulme, Illustrator Sahar Haghoo (Pop-Up)
This Is How the Change Begins by Nicola Davies (Graffeg)
Read for Empathy books for young people aged 12–16
Novels
Fight Back by A M Dassu (Scholastic)
Nisha’s War by Dan Smith (Chicken House)
No Man’s Land by Joanna Nadin (UCLan Publishing)
Our Sister, Again by Sophie Cameron (Little Tiger)
Read Between the Lies by Malcolm Duffy (Zephyr)
Run for Your Life by Jane Mitchell (Little Island)
The Light in Everything by Katya Balen (Bloomsbury)
The Secret Sunshine Project by Benjamin Dean Simon and Schuster
This Is My Truth by Yasmin Rahman (Hot Key Books)
Tyger by S F Said, Illustrator Dave McKean (David Fickling Books)
When I See Blue by Lily Bailey (Orion)
When Our Worlds Collided by Danielle Jawando (Simon and Schuster)
When Shadows Fall by Sita Brahmachari, Illustrator Natalie Sirett (Little Tiger)
Graphic Novels
The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag (Scholastic)
The Golden Hour by Niki Smith (Hachette)
Non-Fiction
Queer Up by Alexis Caught (Walker Books)
You Can Do It by Marcus Rashford, Carl Anka (Macmillan Children’s Books)
Short Novels
Needle by Patrice Lawrence (Barrington Stoke)
Evolution by Zelda Conway (Zuntold)
The Dream House by Laura Dockrill (Piccadilly)
Picture Books
What Do You See When You Look at A Tree? by Emma Carlisle (Bonnier)
Poetry
Let’s Chase Stars Together by Matt Goodfellow (Bloomsbury)
These are the Words by Nikita Gill (Macmillan Children’s Books)
Short Stories
Happy Here, introduced by Sharna Jackson (Knights Of)
Verse Novels
The Silver Chain by Jion Sheibani (Hot Key Books)