Reading list for empathy 2021
by Sophie GreenEmpathy Lab's 2021 Read for Empathy collection features 50 books for 4-16 year olds, with each book chosen to do a specific job in building young people’s empathy. Many of these titles are available to borrow on our catalogue and can be found below.
Hello, Friend! by Rebecca Cobb
Umbrella by Elena Arevalo Melville
The Suitcase by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros
Tibble and Grandpa by Wendy Meddour & Daniel Egnéus
Felix After the Rain by Dunja Jogan, translator Olivia Hellewell
Maia and What Matters by Tine Mortier & Kaatje Vermeire, translator David Colmer
Clean Up! Nathan Bryon & Dapo Adeola
Ride the Wind by Nicola Davies & Salvatore Rubbino
Once Upon a Dragon’s Fire by Beatrice Blue
The Lost Homework by Richard O’Neill & Kirsti Beautyman
How to Change the World by Rashmi Sirdeshpande & Annabel Tempest
Rain Before Rainbows by Smriti Halls & David Litchfield
The Boy in the Jam Jar by Joyce Dunbar, illustrator John Shelley
Too Small Tola Atinuke, illustrator Onyinye Iwu
Five Ways to Make a Friend by Gillian Cross, illustrator Sarah Horne
Belonging Street by Mandy Coe
Bright Bursts of Colour by Matt Goodfellow, illustrator Aleksei Bitskoff
Poems Aloud by Joseph Coelho & Daniel Gray-Barnett
This Rock, That Rock by Dom Conlon & Vivianne Schwarz
Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Rey Terciero & Bre Indigo
The Space We’re In by Katya Balen, illustrator Laura Carlin
The Time of Green Magic by Hilary McKay
The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates by Jenny Pearson, illustrator Rob Biddulph
Talking to the Moon by S. E. Durrant
A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll
Freedom by Catherine Johnson
The Star Outside My Window by Onjali Q. Raúf
The Faraway Truth by Janae Marks
Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah
The Taylor Turbochaser by David Baddiel
Tin Boy by Steve Cole, illustrator Oriol Vidal
The Last Paper Crane by Kerry Drewery, illustrator Natsko Seki
Eight Pieces of Silva by Patrice Lawrence
I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman
The Gone Book Helena Close
And the Stars Were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
A House Without Walls by Elizabeth Laird
Chinglish by Sue Cheung
Scavengers by Darren Simpson
Boy, Everywhere by M. Dassu
When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson & Omar Mohamed
Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds
Clouds Cannot Cover Us: Poetry collection by Jay Hulme
A Hurricane in my Head: Poems for when your phone dies by Matt Abbott
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander & Kadir Nelson
The Missing by Michael Rosen
Gloves Off by Louisa Reid
Run, Rebel by Manjeet Mann
Clap When You Land Elizabeth Acevedo