Once Terry Heick said, “Empathy is both a cause and effect of understanding, a kind of cognitive and emotional double helix that can create a bridge between classroom learning and ‘real-life’ application.” Similarly, with the help of teachers and parents, a student should learn how to be empathetic at his/her early age. Storytelling is a powerful way to connect with them and they will understand the concept with more comfort and ease. There are a few Books to teach children empathy that you can refer. In this article, you can have a look at such Books to teach children empathy and practice a few learning tools as mentioned in it.
Here are 30 of the best books to teach children empathy;
1. El Deafo
El Deafo Books to teach children empathy might be challenging to enter a new school and quickly get accepted by peers. How about attending classes and meeting new acquaintances while wearing a cumbersome hearing aid around your chest? For that, you’d need to have extraordinary abilities. Cece Bell lost her hearing at an early age, and in this amusing and sad graphic book memoir, she describes her experiences with the Phonic Ear, a very strong and very unpleasant hearing aid.
The Phonic Ear improves Cece’s hearing (including her capacity to hear things she shouldn’t), but it also makes her feel different from the other students. A sincere friend who accepts her for who she is is all she truly wants. In the end, she is able to master the Phonic Ear and earn the title of “El Deafo, Listener for All.” And most crucially, claim her identity and locate her long-sought best buddy. Therefore El Deafo is Books to teach children empathy.
2. Wonder
As a result of his birth defect, August Pullman has been excluded from regular schools. Auggie wants nothing more than to blend in with his new classmates at Beecher Prep, but no one can see beyond his remarkable face. The narrative of Wonder Books to teach children empathy, which is now at the top of the New York Times bestseller list and a finalist for the Texas Bluebonnet Award, starts from Auggie’s perspective but quickly shifts to include his classmates, his sister’s boyfriend, and others. These diverse points of view come together to paint a picture of a group of people who are having trouble showing and receiving kindness and tolerance.
3. Fish In A Tree
Author of the acclaimed One for the Murphys offers readers an inspiring story that will hit close to home for everyone who has ever felt alone or different. Everyone is clever in their own way. But a fish would spend its whole existence convinced it is dumb if its intelligence is based on whether or not it can scale a tree.
4. 365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne’s Precepts
Each Day, A New Marvel
In Wonder, readers were introduced to famous English instructor Mr. Browne and his love of principles. This Books to teach children empathy is a companion to Wonder, and it comprises dialogues between Mr. Browne and the main characters Auggie, Julian, Summer, Jack Will, and others. Included with Mr. Browne’s letters and articles is a daily admonition culled from a wide variety of sources, including pop culture, children’s literature, ancient Egyptian inscriptions, and even fortune cookies.
5. The One and Only Ivan
Having spent twenty-seven years behind the glass walls of his cage in a shopping mall, Ivan has become used to people viewing him. He seldom recalls his days in the woods. Ivan, on the other hand, spends his time watching TV, hanging out with Stella and Bob, and painting. But when he meets Ruby, a young elephant stolen from the wild, he is compelled to view their habitat, and his work, through fresh eyes.
6. Same Sun Here
By sharing their true selves and laughing together through their differences, the main characters are able to forge a bond that encourages boldness and helps them overcome cultural biases. This dual-narrated chronicle of two lives, written by two talented individuals, emphasizes the immense benefits of having friends and sharing our lives with others who share our planet’s orbit.
7. Inside Out and Back Again
The National Book Award–winning and Newbery Honor Book, Inside Out and Back Again Books to teach children empathy has also become a New York Times bestseller. Inspired by the author’s childhood experience of escaping Vietnam following the Fall of Saigon and relocating to Alabama, this coming-of-age first book set in poetry has been hailed for its sympathetic child’s-eye vision of family and immigration.
8. Sunborn Rising: Beneath the Fall
It seems like Cerulean is about to completely fall apart. Although the decline was gradual and hardly perceptible, the globe is now on the brink of disaster. Cerulean’s treescape, which was once bright but has gone dull through centuries of arboreal life and forgotten by the forest’s animals, is woven forests floating on an ocean around a star.
9. The Family Under the Bridge
This Books to teach children empathy is the beautifully pleasant and amusing account of an elderly Parisian called Armand, who cherished his alone existence. He compared children to starlings and said that society would be better off without them. Even if a new buddy looked a little hesitant at first, the kids who lived beneath the bridge knew a real friend when they saw one. And it didn’t take long for Armand to figure out that he’d essentially inherited a family he loved dearly and for whom he’d need to locate a more permanent residence than the bridge.
10. Hannah Coulter
As some guys returned from the war and others were mourned, life went on in Port William, Kentucky. Hannah, Nathan’s wife, is in her sixties and finally has time to reflect on her life since the war. Wendell Berry tells the story of the Coulter kids, the Feltners, the Branches, and how the survivors “live right on” in his indelible words.
11. Brown Girl Dreaming
Woodson felt equally at home in both his native South Carolina and his adopted home of New York. In evocative poetry, she reveals what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, dealing with the remains of Jim Crow and her increasing understanding of the Civil Rights struggle. Beautiful and moving, these poems books to teach children empathy provide a window into the heart of a little girl as she navigates the world and finds her place in it.
12. Island of the Blue Dolphins
When you finish reading this Books to teach children empathy “Island of the Blue Dolphins,” you won’t be able to shake the feeling of having embarked on a spiritual journey. Karana’s unassuming bravery, Indian independence, and acceptance of destiny turn what might have been a disastrous event for most people into something positive. This Newbery Honor book is about overcoming isolation and fear to find inner strength and peace.
13. Jayber Crow
Jayber Crow Books to teach children empathy, a native of Goforth, Kentucky who lost his parents when he was ten years old, started his quest as a “pre-ministerial student” at Pigeonville College. You have been asked inane things that can’t be answered. You’ll just have to experience them for yourself, maybe one step at a time.
14. Paperboy
When it comes to fastballs, nobody can compete with Little Man. However, a conversation is a whole other story. He stutters so badly that he has trouble saying even his own name. So, he isn’t exactly looking forward to talking to the customers when he takes over his best friend’s paper route for the month of July. In reality, however, Little Man’s problems stem from the local junkman, a thug and bully.
15. The Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible
In this Books to teach children empathy, the only book written by a survivor of Schindler’s List, the author brilliantly conveys the naiveté of a little kid who must endure unspeakable horrors. Leon Leyson, whose given name is Leib Lezjon, was ten years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his family was sent to the Krakow ghetto. Leyson’s survival through the Nazis’ sadistic treatment of inmates, especially that of the camp’s commander, the demon-possessed Amon Goeth, in the Plaszow concentration camp outside of Krakow, is a testament to his remarkable luck, tenacity, and resilience.
16. Night (Night)
Night Books to teach children empathy is Elie Wiesel’s magnum opus; it is an autobiographical description of his experience as an adolescent in Nazi death camps and is brutally honest, horrifying, and very moving. Marion Wiesel, Elie’s wife and frequent translator, has done an excellent job of capturing the tone and style of this classic book in her new version. In addition, Elie has written a fresh, in-depth prologue in which he discusses the book’s continued relevance and his lifetime, fervent commitment to ensuring that the world never forgets man’s propensity for inhumanity to man.
17. One Came Home
In the year 1871, the residents of Placid, Wisconsin, know Georgie Burkhardt for two things: her skill with a rifle and her tendency to say exactly what’s on her mind. Nonetheless, Agatha, Georgie’s elder sister, takes off with a group of “pigeoners” who are following the passenger pigeon migration when Georgie says something she shouldn’t. Everyone fears the worst when the sheriff comes to town with a corpse draped in Agatha’s blue-green ball gown. But not Georgie.
18. Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood
Ibtisam Barakat brilliantly conveys the experience of being a youngster whose world is broken by war in this pioneering memoir set in Ramallah in the wake of the 1967 Six-Day War. She recalls her youth with brave openness, detailing her terror and disorientation when bombs go off near her house and she is separated from her family and the rigors of life as a Palestinian refugee. Therefore this is the Books to teach children empathy.
19. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Pantheon Graphic Novels)
Marjane Satrapi’s account of her childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution is wise, hilarious, and devastating; it goes by the title Persepolis. Using striking black and white comic strip pictures, Satrapi recounts her childhood in Tehran between the ages of six and fourteen, a time that witnessed the fall of the Shah’s rule, the victory of the Islamic Revolution, and the catastrophic impacts of war with Iraq. Marjane is a unique witness to the history of her nation as the brilliant and outspoken only child of devoted Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last monarchs.
20. Where the Red Fern Grows
Billy’s long-held fantasy is to one day have not one, but two dogs of his very own. That’s why it makes him so happy when he’s finally able to put together enough money to buy two puppies of his very own. Even though money is tight, they want to spend their time together exploring the Ozark Mountains. Billy and his hounds quickly rise to the top of the valley’s hunting ranks. The area was captivated by tales of their remarkable successes. But disaster is in store for these dogged hunters who have become friends, and Billy discovers that one may cultivate hope from misery and future from wounds.
21. My Side of the Mountain (Puffin Modern Classics)
Sam Gribley is miserable in his family’s cramped New York City apartment, so he escapes to the mountains, where he faces danger but also discovers a side of himself he had never seen before.
22. I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This
Marie, a little girl of twelve, is a leader among the black girls in the affluent black neighborhood of Chauncey, Ohio. When white student Lena Bright shows up to her high school, she isn’t in the market for a new pal. They are both grieving the loss of their moms, which draws them together. In addition to Books to teach children empathy, they are adept at maintaining confidentiality. For Lena has a horrible secret, and she is trying to keep it from her father and her younger sister. Marie had to decide whether sharing Lena her secret will be helpful or keeping it a secret.
23. The Breadwinner
The Breadwinner Books to teach children empathy, the first book in Deborah Ellis’s award-winning trilogy, is a compelling tale about devotion, survival, families, and friendship set in Afghanistan under the reign of the Taliban.
24. Out of My Mind
Melody deviates far from the norm. She has no ability to move or speak, but her memory is impeccable, allowing her to recall every every moment of her life. She outsmarts the doctors who attempt to diagnose her and the students in her mainstreamed school, but these same people assume she is mentally retarded since she has no way of convincing them differently. Melody, however, refuses to let her disability hold her back. And she is resolved to make that fact known to everyone.
25. Moon Over Manifest
It’s been really lonely for Abilene Tucker. Her father placed her on a train and sent her away to spend the summer with a buddy who works for the railroad. Upon arriving in Manifest, Kansas, Abilene abandons the train with just the clothes on her back and a list of universals she has compiled in her search for information about the kid her father used to be. that’s why we can say this is the best Books to teach children empathy.
26. A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story
One of the most popular Books to teach children empathy in New York At first, A Long Walk to Water is split into two storylines, one about a girl in 2008 and one about a boy in 1985, both eleven years old and living in Sudan. Nya, the little girl, spends two hours each day walking to and from a pond, where she collects water for her family’s daily needs. Salva is a survivor who faces adversity head-on, from being alone to being attacked by armed rebels to coming into touch with dangerous lions and crocodiles. His tale eventually intersects with Nya’s in a remarkable and emotional manner.
27. They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan
The Flames Came Gushing Out The three brothers wrote about their unbelievable adventure in a book titled They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky. Alephonsian, Benjamin, and Benson take it in turns relating their experiences, which they recall with the candor and purity of a child’s eye view: how they suffered through hunger and strength-sapping illnesses like dysentery, malaria, and yellow fever; how they evaded life-threatening predators like lions, snakes, crocodiles, and soldiers; and how they struggled against a war that continually threatened to overwhelm them.
28. The Wall (Reading Rainbow Books)
A little kid and his father have made the trip to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in search of the child’s grandfather’s name amid the names of those who lost their lives in that conflict. His name is among the many that “march side by side, like rows of troops,” yet it is easily found. The boy’s dad is all smiles as he points to the plaque that bears his grandfather’s name. The young lad agrees, but he adds, “but I’d rather have my grandfather here.”
29. Bridge to Terabithia
Fifth-grader Jess Aarons plans to dominate his competition by becoming the fastest runner in the school with a steady regimen of summer training. And he almost succeeds until he’s surpassed by Leslie Burke, the school’s newest student. The two hit it off and spend much of their time together in the woods behind Leslie’s home, where they create a magical realm they dub Terabithia. When Leslie visits Terabithia one morning without Jess, a terrible event takes place. To overcome his sorrow, Jess will need the support of his loved ones and the fortitude that Leslie has given him.
30. Charlotte’s Web
E. B. White’s Newbery Honor Books to teach children empathy is a touching story about friendship, love, life, and death that will continue to be cherished by generations to come. Garth Williams, the renowned artist of Stuart Little by E.B. White and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series, among many others, contributed to the book.
Bottom line
As you know book reading is the best way to embark on the habit of keep learning something new. However, not everything can be achieved by just reading a book, you have to implement those things in real life. Moreover, empathy can be learned by not just reading a book but also practicing it in daily life. After reading these Books to teach children empathy you should start practicing it with your children at home or school.
