“Empathy is our ability to understand and experience someone else’s feelings. It builds stronger, kinder communities. It’s a crucial life skill that young people need to learn, thrive, and make a positive difference. We’re not born with a fixed quantity of empathy – it’s a skill we can all learn. Excitingly, research shows that books are a powerful tool to develop it. When young people identify with book characters, they learn to see things from others’ points of view. As they read, they are building their empathy skills”. The EmpathyLab 2024
Here is a selection of books recommended by the EmpathyLab which are available in our school library. YA (Young Adult) means these books are for older students.
Noughts & Crosses by Maloire Blackman YA
Boy 87 by Ele Fountain
Rosie loves Jack by Mel Darbon YA
The Boy Who Steals Houses by C.G Drews YA
New Kid by Jerry Craft
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas YA
Scavengers by Darren Simpson
When Stars Are Scattered by V Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
Clap When you Land by Elizbeth Acevedo YA
When Our Worlds Collided by D Jawando YA
The First Move by Jenny Ireland YA Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird YA
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressdia Cowell
One Dog and his Boy by Eva Ibbotson
The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson
Mr Stink by David Walliams
The Unforgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce
The Sad Ghost Club by Lize Meddlings
Frankie’s World by Aoife Dooley The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh by Helen Rutter
The Taylor Turbochaser by David Baddiel
Check Mates by Stewart Foster
The Bubble Boy by Stewart Foster
The Boy at the Back of the Class
by Onjali Q. Raúf & Illustrator Pippa Curnick
Tender Earth by Sita Brahmachari YA
Sky Dancer by Gill Lewis
Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth by
Frank Cottrell Boyce Illustrator Steven Lenton
The Guggenheim Mystery by Robin Stevens
The Island at the End of Everything by
Kiran Millwood Hargrave
