© Empathy Lab UK

What is empathy?

Empathy is our ability to understand another person and feel their emotions. It's a force for change because it makes us want to help people. 

Who is EmpathyLab?

EmpathyLab is the first organisation to build children’s empathy, literacy and social activism through the use of high quality books. Their strategy builds on new scientific evidence showing that quality literature is an effective way to build our empathetic understanding of others

What is Empathy Day?

There is a day in June each year called Empathy Day. It's a day to help us understand each other better by using books to step into someone else's shoes. When you read, your brain reacts as it would to real events. This makes books the perfect empathy boosting vehicle. Train your brain with stories!

What is Read for Empathy?

EmpathyLab also publishes read for empathy guides and book collections. Each guide features a diverse collection of books for children aged 3-16 years old. Books are selected by an expert panel to improve children's empathy skills.

2025 Read for Empathy Collections

Books for 3-11 year olds

Picture books - Understanding and Sharing Emotions

• April’s Garden - Isla McGuckin & Catalina Echeverri
• Troll - Frances Stickley & Stefano Martinuz
• Terrible Horses - Raymond Antrobus & Ken Wilson-Max
• The Cat Who Couldn’t Be Bothered - Jack Kurland
• Grandad’s Star - Frances Tosdevin & Rhian Stone

Picture books

• Best of All - Smriti Halls & Chaaya Prabhat
• Dance Just Like So! Annemarie Anang & Natelle Quek
• Elki is Not My Dog - Elena Arevalo Melville & Tonka Uzu
• Luna Loves Gardening - Joseph Coelho & Fiona Lumbers
• We Are Here - Kate Rafiq
• Flower Block - Lanisha Butterfield & Hoang Giang
• Grandpa Kuma - Michelle Maiden
• A Better Best Friend - Olivier Tallec
• My Name is a Gift - Zeshan Akhter & Åsa Gilland
• Where? - Jordan Collins & Phil Lesnie

Early readers

• Destiny Ink: Sleepover Surprise - Adeola Sokunbi
• Sidney and Carrie Have a Party - Lisa Thompson 
  Illustrated by Jess Rose

Early Graphics

• Gordon the Meanest Goose on Earth - Alex Latimer
• Bumble & Snug and the Jealous Giants - Mark Bradley

Graphic Novels

• Rune: The Tale of a Thousand Faces - Carlos Sánchez
• Nina Peanut is Amazing - Sarah Bowie

Non-fiction

• How I Feel - Becky Goddard-Hill
  Illustrated by Assia Ieradi
• Me and My Hair - Kimberley Kinloch
  Illustrated by Jessica Gibson

Novels

• Bobby Bains Plays a Blinder - Bali Rai
  Illustrated by Daniel Duncan
• The Cheat Book - Ramzee
• Flora Stormer and the Golden Lotus - Isabella Harcourt
  illustrated by Hannah McCaffery
• One Chance Dance - Efua Traoré
• Angel of Grasmere - Tom Palmer
• The Wrong Shoes - Tom Percival
• The Last Dragon - Polly Ho-Yen
  Illustrated by Charis Loke
• The Letter with the Golden Stamp - Onjali Q. Raúf
• Turtle Moon - Hannah Gold
  Illustrated by Levi Pinfold
• On the Wall - Anne Fine
• Norah’s Ark - Victoria Williamson
• Bird Boy - Catherine Bruton

Poetry

• Find Peace in a Poem - Jason Reynolds, Michael Rosen, Sophia Thakur and 17 more; Illustrated by Annalise Barber, Mariana Roldán, Masha
  Manapov, Nabila Adani
• ... And I Hear Dragons - Editor Hanan Issa
  Illustrated by Eric Heyman
• And I Climbed And I Climbed - Stephen Lightbown
  Illustrated by Shih-Yu Lin
• Who Let the Words Out? - Joshua Seigal

Books for 12-16 year olds

Novels

• Glasgow Boys - Margaret McDonald
• King of Nothing - Nathanael Lessore
• Sh!t Bag - Xena Knox
• Keedie - Elle McNicoll
• Little Bang - Kelly McCaughrain
• A Sudden Storm - Bali Rai
• You Could Be So Pretty - Holly Bourne
• The Boy in the Suit - James Fox
• Only This Beautiful Moment - Abdi Nazemian
• Sister Spirit - Efua Traoré
• The Girl Who Couldn’t Lie - Radhika Sanghani
• The Fights That Make Us - Sarah Hagger-Holt
• The 10 p.m. Question - Kate De Goldi
• Northern Soul - Phil Earle
• The Djinn’s Apple - Djamila Morani
  Translated by Sawad Hussain
• Running Away For Beginners - Mark Illis
• If My Words Had Wings - Danielle Jawando
• All That It Ever Meant - Blessing Musariri

Graphic novels

• Homebody - Theo Parish
• Cross My Heart and Never Lie - Nora Dåsnes
• Tosh’s Island - Linda Sargent, Joe Brady & Leo Marcell
• Drawn to Change the World 16 Youth Climate Activists - Curated by Emma Reynolds
  Illustrated by 16 Artists

Verse novels and poetry

• Wild East - Ashley Hickson-Lovence
• Where the Heart Should Be - Sarah Crossan
• The Door of No Return - Kwame Alexander
• Started Before Me: Poems About Black British History - Chosen by George the Poet
• Louder Than Hunger - John Schu

Non-fiction

• Rise Up and Sing!: Power, Protest, and Activism in Music - Andrea Warner
  Illustrated by Louise Reimer
• Everyday Action, Everyday Change - Natalie and Naomi Evans
• The Body Confidence Book - Professor Philippa Diedrichs PhD
  Illustrated by Naomi Wilkinson