Saturday, March 2, 2024

The Empathy Lab award winners

 


Okay everyone listen up - this is one of the BEST resources you will EVER find as a source wonderful books for your library. There are lists from 2017 up to 2024 so no excuses for not identifying really amazing books you should/can/must add to your school library.  





Why read for empathy?
  • The world needs more empathy: to help us all understand and connect to each other better. 
  • New approaches are badly needed, with the recent rise in hate crimes. 
Without empathy children won’t thrive: 
  • psychologists say it is an essential life skill. 
  • you can use stories to build this skill: as you read with your child, you can build their emotional skills at the same time, because scientific evidence shows that reading builds real-life empathy. 
  • and as you read you can help with identifying with book characters, children learn to see things from other points of view.
EmpathyLab’s work is based on scientific research showing that empathy is learnable, and that books help to build it: identifying with fictional characters’ feelings helps build real-life empathy.

These book lists are compiled in the UK but they contain books from all around the world including some from Australia! Under each of these brochure banners you will find a link to the pdf and the full list of annotated titles - picture books and novels and I have also added links to some of the books I have featured on this blog. After exploring all of these rich lists my own reading list has grown exponentially. Huge thanks to my friend from Kinderbookswitheverything and her wonderful library which is how I discovered this resource. As a Teacher-Librarian she has filled a display box with titles from these lists and she has added the Empathy Lab logo to the front cover of each book. Staff can also search her library catalogue for titles selected for these lists. 



The Journey (The picture book makers)
























Here are the 2024 titles for ages 3-11



Understanding & sharing emotions

  • Be More Dog Caroline Crowe & Carlos Velez Floris Books
  • Beneath Cori Doerrfeld Scallywag Press
  • Blue Sarah Christou Faber
  • Geoffrey Gets the Jitters Nadia Shireen Puffin
  • I Will Swim Next Time Emily Joof & Matilda Ruta Floris Books
  • The Spaces In Between Jaspreet Kaur, illustrated by Manjit Thapp Big Picture Press
  • Victor, the Wolf with Worries Catherine Rayner Macmillan
  • When I Feel Surprised Illustrator Paula Bowles Child’s Play

Picture Books

  • Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf Craig Barr-Green, illustrated by Francis Martin Little Tiger
  • Grandpa and the Kingfisher Anna Wilson, illustrated by Sarah Massini Nosy Crow
  • I Am Nefertiti Annemarie Anang Natelle Quek Five Quills
  • My Baba’s Garden Jordan Scott, illustrated by Sydney Smith Walker
  • Nour’s Secret Library Wafa’ Tarnowska Vali Mintzi Barefoot
  • To the Other Side Erika Meza Hodder

Early Readers

Novels

  • City of Stolen Magic Nazeen Ahmed Pathak Puffin
  • Cosima Unfortunate Steals a Star Laura Noakes Flavia Sorrentino HarperCollins
  • Fablehouse E.L. Norry Bloomsbury
  • Finding Bear Hannah Gold HarperCollins
  • Glitter Boy Ian Eagleton Scholastic
  • How to Be More Hedgehog Anne-Marie Conway, illustrated by Raahat Kaduji UCLan
  • Jamie L.D. Lapinski Orion
  • Kofi and the Rap Battle Summer Jeffrey Boakye Faber
  • My Life on Fire Cath Howe Nosy Crow
  • The Mystery of the Missing Mum Frances Moloney Pushkin Press 
  • Until the Road Ends Phil Earle Andersen Press
  • Where the River Takes Us Lesley Parr Bloomsbury

Verse Novels

Poetry

  • My Heart is a Poem Various Little Tiger
  • What You Need to Be Warm Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Various Bloomsbury

Graphic Novels

  • Finding My Voice Aoife Dooley Scholastic
  • It’s Her Story: Irena Sendler Margaret Littman, illustrated by Sara Luna Sunbird

Non-fiction

  • A Child Like You Na’ima B. Robert, illustrated by Nadine Kaadan Otter-Barry
  • All Bodies are Wonderful Beth Cox, illustrated by Vicky Barker
  • Lift-the-flap Questions and Answers about Refugees Katie Dayne & Ashe de Sousa, illustrated by Oksana Drachkovska Usborne
  • Our Story Starts in Africa Patrice Lawrence, Magic Cat

There are also lists of books for High School libraries from 2017-2024 - if this is your context please take time to explore the fabulous titles. 

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