Books to Help Teach Empathy
Bev Humphrey
Accessit Library trainer, Literacy & Digital Media Consultant
www.bevhumphrey.com
Social media – https://linktr.ee/BevHumphrey
With current world events, I think it’s never been more vital that we encourage our children and young people to develop their empathy skills, and reading fiction is such a powerful way to help them step inside another person’s life and build their understanding and caring.
Here in the UK, we have an Empathy Day Festival between the 2 and 12 June and the Read for Empathy collection for 2025, has recently been launched, made up of 70 brilliant books to build empathy. I love all of the suggested books, and they are brilliant selections, but here are a few others I would add from my recent reading:
Picture Books
The Midnight Mitzvah, Ruth Horowitz
Inspired by a tale from the Jewish Talmud, this lovely story has a lot to say about giving, modesty, and helping others. It has atmospheric illustrations, an engaging storytelling, and a couple of great information pages at the back.
Step Into My Shoes, Alkisti Halikia, illustrated by Fotini Tikkou, translated by Konstantine Matsoukas
Matou, a young girl, is captivated by the shoes left outside a mosque and imagines the stories of their owners. When her mother works late, Matou wonders if trying on her mother’s shoes could foster understanding between them. This delightful story explores empathy as Matou takes the phrase ‘to step into someone’s shoes’ literally.
The Bicycle, Patricia McCormick & Mevan Babacar, illustrated by Yas Imamura
Mevan and her family, forced to flee their cherished home in Kurdistan, embark on a journey seeking safety, feeling isolated in each new country. A stranger’s unexpected gift transforms her experience. Inspired by Mevan Babakar’s childhood, this poignant story highlights the profound impact of kindness and serves as an introduction to the realities of refugee life, enhanced by subtle illustrations.
Middle Grade
My Dog, Olivia Wakeford
10-year-old Rhys loves dogs and finds a lost black Labrador named Worthington under the bed of his dying mum. With no one to claim the dog, he takes it in but must keep it a secret when he moves to London to live with his estranged father, who dislikes dogs. As the story goes on, we realise that Worthington is not an actual dog but instead is a manifestation of Rhys’s grief. Poignant, touching, and ultimately hopeful, this is a beautiful story.
How to Roller-Skate with One Leg, Ella Dove
This funny, poignant book tells us the story of Maya, who is twelve years old and a recent amputee, and the way she gets on with her life and weathers the trials of becoming a teenager. The humour in the story makes it a fun read, with several heartbreaking moments where you really feel for Maya and are rooting for her to be able to get back to what she considers to be normal.
The Bravest Word, Kate Foster
Matt is a whizz at football and is the star of his team, but lately he isn’t getting the same joy in playing, and feels he’s letting everyone down as well as feeling exhausted all the time. When he finds a neglected dog that needs his help, however, he instantly knows that he must rescue him. Will helping the dog help Matt to recognise that he needs help too? Very good portrayal of depression, and a lesson to be learnt about confiding in others.
Young Adult
Girl, Ultra-Processed, Amara Sage
Saffron Saldana battles with self-esteem issues and compares herself to others, feeling confident only while catfishing online. As the New Year nears, she envies her friend Poppy’s allure and her mother’s confidence as a SlimIt coach. By adopting the persona of Sydney, a stunning AI-generated Instagram model, Saffron gains power over her image, but her fun quickly spirals out of control, leaving her uncertain about how to fix the situation. Girl, Ultra-Processed explores the challenges faced by teenage girls in a body-obsessed society, including family conflicts, friendships, and major life changes.
Handle With Care, Louisa Reid
A 16-year-old girl gives birth to the baby she didn’t know she was expecting in a school classroom, the result of having a one-night stand with her best friend’s brother. The way she then unravels and gets no help from those around her is painful to read. Powerful, beautiful writing that will stay with me for a long time.
The Boy I Love, William Hussey
This heartbreaking story of love between a soldier and an officer in the First World War evoked tears and anger from me over the senseless deaths of young men, particularly gay men who fought for a country that shunned and marginalized them. Hussey’s sensitive yet realistic portrayal of war makes the book an important, albeit challenging read.
Graphic Novel
The Sad Ghost Club, Lize Meddings
The Sad Ghost Club is an accessible, meaningful graphic novel which offers understanding and help to anxiety sufferers of all ages. It’s comforting and practical, with many suggestions of things to do that might help you feel better. Based on the Sad Ghost Club community, with over 600K followers on Instagram, this is a place where everyone is accepted and everyone belongs. A helpful read for anxiety sufferers and a great way to increase understanding for non-sufferers.
Accessit’s Free Empathy Dashboard
We’ve already created an amazing home for Accessit libraries to showcase their empathy resources with our ‘Empathy Action Month’ dashboard. This is a free dashboard that can be easily imported for use on your library’s Accessit website (we call it a Web App) then customised to suit the needs of your school.
This is just one of the many dashboards that our teacher-librarians are always creating to help your library reach across the curriculum. Whether it’s major events like the Olympics or curriculum topics like Climate Change, Accessit offers over 120 dashboards to help you connect with what staff are teaching and make it easier for students to engage with your library’s fantastic resources.
Try out our live Accessit Web App to see examples of what your library website can look like with Accessit!
