The 2024 Read for Empathy Collection
We're delighted to share this year's Read for Empathy Collection
Chosen by a panel of expert judges, this book collection and the accompanying guides help parents, carers and educators fuel an empathy-educated generation, with each title in the collection offering children the opportunity to connect with different people and different lives.
Scroll down to see the full listings for the
Primary
and
Secondary
books in the collection.
Download our FREE Read for Empathy guides!
How to get and use the books:
- Buy from your local independent bookshop - find yours here.
- Order online via EmpathyLab’s Bookshop.org page OR by clicking on the book jackets, below.
- Order full sets for your school via Peters.
- Visit your
local library to borrow the books for free
Read for Empathy Checklist
Ages 3-11
Read for Empathy Checklist
Ages 12-16
Primary for 3-11 year olds
A Child Like You
Na'ima B. Robert (Author)
Nadine Kaadan (Illustrator)
Otter-Barry Books
Be More Dog
Caroline Crowe (Author)
Carlos Velez (Illustrator)
Floris Books
Bear and Bird:
The Picnic and Other Stories
Jarvis
Walker Books
Beneath
Cori Doerrfeld
Scallywag Press
Blue
Sarah Christou
Faber
Budgie
Joseph Coelho (Author)
David Barrow (Illustrator)
Barrington Stoke
City of Stolen Magic
Nazeen Ahmed Pathak (Author)
Sandhya Prabhat (Illustrator)
Puffin
Cosima Unfortunate Steals a Star
Laura Noakes (Author)
Flavia Sorrentino (Illustrator)
HarperCollins Children’s Books
Dimple and the Boo
Pip Jones (Author)
Paula Bowles (Illustrator)
Barrington Stoke
Fablehouse
E.L. Norry
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Finding Bear
Hannah Gold (Author)
Levi Pinfold (Illustrator)
HarperCollins Children’s Books
Finding My Voice
Aoife Dooley
Scholastic
Geoffry Gets The Jitters
Nadia Shireen
Puffin
Gina Kaminski Saves
the Wolf
Craig Barr-Green (Author)
Francis Martin (Illustrator)
Little Tiger
Glitter Boy
Ian Eagleton
Scholastic
Grandpa and the Kingfisher
Anna Wilson (Author)
Sarah Massini (Illustrator)
Nosy Crow
How to Be More Hedgehog
Anne-Marie Conway
UCLan Publishing
I Am Nefertiti
Annemarie Anang (Author)
Natelle Quek (Illustrator)
Five Quills
I Will Swim Next Time
Emily Joof (Author)
Matilda Ruta (Illustrator)
Floris Books
It's Her Story:
Irena Sendler
Margaret Littman (Author)
Sara Lunan (Illustrator)
Sunbird Books
Jamie
L. D. Lapinski
Orion
Kofi and the Rap
Battle Summer
Jeffrey Boakye
Faber
Lift-the-flap:
Questions and Answers
about Refugees
Katie Dayne (Author)
Ashe de Sousa (Author)
O. Drachkovska (Illustrator)
Usborne
My Baba's Garden
Jordan Scott (Author)
Sydney Smith (Illustrator)
Walker Books
My Heart is a Poem
Various authors
Various Illustrators
Little Tiger
My Life on Fire
Cath Howe
Nosy Crow
Nour's Secret Library
Wafa' Tarnowska (Author)
Vali Mintzi (Illustrator)
Barefoot
Our Story Starts in Africa
Patrice Lawrence
Magic Cat Publishing
The Final Year
Matt Goodfellow (Author)
Joe Todd-Stanton (Illustrator)
The Girl Who
Became a Fish
Polly Ho-Yen (Author)
Sojung Kim-McCarthy (Illustrator)
Knights of Media
The Mystery of the Missing Mum
Frances Moloney
Pushkin Children's Books
The Spaces In Between
Jaspreet Kaur (Author)
Manjit Thapp (Illustrator)
Big Picture Press
The Way of Dog
Zana Fraillon (Author)
Sean Buckingham (Illustrator)
Chicken House
To the Other Side
Erika Meza
Hodder Children’s Books
Until the Road Ends
Phil Earle
Andersen Press
Victor, the Wolf
with Worries
Catherine Rayner
Macmillan Children’s Books
What You Need to Be Warm
Neil Gaiman (Author)
Various Illustrators
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
When I Feel Surprised
Paula Bowles (Illustrator)
Child's Play
Where the River Takes Us
Lesley Parr
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Secondary for 11-16 year olds
All the Pieces of Me
Libby Scott & Rebecca Westcott
Scholastic
Away With Words
Sophie Cameron
Stripes
Boy Like Me
Simon James Green
Scholastic
Choose Love
Nicola Davies & Petr Horáček Graffeg
Crossing the Line
Tia Fisher
Hot Key Books
Different For Boys
Patrick Ness (Author)
Tea Bendix (Illustrator)
Walker Books
Global
Eoin Colfer (Author)
Andrew Donkin (Author)
Giovanni Rigano (Illustrator)
Hodder Children’s Books
Hazel Hill is Gonna
Win This One
Maggie Horne
Firefly Press
Kicked Out!
A. M. Dassu
Old Barn Books
One More Mountain
Deborah Ellis (Author)
Shamsia Hassani (Illustrator)
Oxford University Press
Oxygen Mask
Jason Reynolds (Author)
Jason Griffin (Illustrator)
Faber
Promise Boys
Nick Brooks
Macmillan
Quiet Storm
Kimberly Whittam
Usborne
Safiyyah's War
Hiba Noor Khan
Andersen Press
Sing If You Can't Dance
Alexia Casale
Faber
SOLD: What Will It Take to Find Freedom?
Sue Barrow
Cadence Publishing
Stand Up Ferran Burke
Steven Camden
Macmillan
Swimming on the Moon
Brian Conaghan
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
The Climbers
Keith Gray
Barrington Stoke
The First Move
Jenny Ireland
Penguin
The Piano at the Station
Helen Rutter (Author)
Elisa Paganelli (Illustrator)
Barrington Stoke
What the World Doesn't See
Mel Darbon
Usborne
Wild Song
Candy Gourlay
David Fickling Books
You Are Not Alone
Shauna Darling Robertson
Troika Books
You Think You Know Me
Ayaan Mohamud
Usborne