EmpathyLab and authors
EmpathyLab is supported by an ever-growing army of authors and illustrators. They help us use the power of stories to build empathy.
See our 2020 Read for Empathy authors and illustrators here. Browse our #ReadforEmpathy Illustrators Gallery, check out our authors' blog tour or make a cup of tea and listen to our author podcasts or authors reading aloud
from the Read for Empathy Book Collections. Stuck for a good empathy boosting book? Check out author empathy book recommendations here.
This year's Empathy Day on June 9 2020 is being supported by host of authors and illustrators who are providing a day of fun activities for children to join in with at home or in school. Details here.
Scientific research shows that it’s their book characters which build our real-life empathy, so they are vitally important partners and ambassadors. We hope every author and illustrator can get involved on future Empathy Days. This 2019 briefing
has lots of ideas and this 2019 Powerpoint
can be used in your presentations. The generic facts and messages are relevant all year round .
'Reading allows us to view the world – and ourselves - through another’s eyes and to walk in their shoes for a while, developing understanding. This is the very essence of connecting and communicating effectively with others.
Reading is such a wonderful way to bring people together in a world that increasingly seeks to build walls and barriers between us.’
Malorie Blackman
'Like a steamer used to strip walls bare of the layers of paper used to cover them, empathy helps strip away differences and works to remind us that at the end of the day, we are all of us at our core, simply human'.
Onjali Rauf
Do use our ReadforEmpathy cards
to tweet us an empathy-boosting book selfie.
Authors and Illustrators who were in action on Empathy Day 2019
Candy Gourlay was at the International Community School, London: Candy opened the school’s Empathy Day with an assembly using the Hero's Journey to describe her journey through life and into writing. Then she ran a creative writing workshop, and helped launch students' stories - Lost Soles of London. Secondary students visited a Primary class to share empathy reads and there was time for students to reflect on this year’s work with local dementia patients.
Onjali Rauf was at Grove Park Primary, London, and also in an Authorfy Masterclass: Onjali held an assembly for 240 juniors, and then a workshop with Year 4 about her writing process, the themes within her work and a short Q&A in the afternoon. The school’s creative writing work came to a head with nominations of an empathetic book character, with each class nominating them, and children championing their character to the whole school.
Sita Brahmachari was at Beck Primary, Sheffield: Beck is looking at empathy using an environment theme. Sita based her visit on her book 'Where the river runs Gold', inspiring children to make empathy pledges about how they can positively impact the environment, and creating leaves of their pledges to make a whole school graffiti tree displayed in the front entrance . They created art to enhance the school environment using recycled junk. Children makd Empathy Awards to book characters showing exceptional empathy, and nominated one another and staff to receive a special empathy award.
Cath Howe was at Coddington Primary, Newark: running the Empathy Day assembly and KS2 workshops, using creative approaches to help children expand their understanding of how other people feel – e.g children’s comments are stuck to a fleece on post-its –the child puts on the fleeced inside out, showing how you can feel uncomfortable as the comments are the inside. This is part of the school’s big empathy focus which includes: past pupils hosting reading cafes during play times; #readforempathy book nooks, special spaces for parents/carers to read with their children.
Emma Shoard
was in London: visiting South Hampstead High School with a focus on understanding and drawing emotions – reading, live drawing, art workshop. Plus free public performance at Dalston Library, Hackney.
Mel Darbon was at The Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital School running a workshop which focuses on developing a fictional character through role play, observation and creative writing. Students put on someone's else's shoes, through the creation of a divergent, fictional character. This can produce some amazing, collaborative work, with those students who feel confident enough acting out their character at the end of the session.
Mickael El Fathi
was at The Spinney School, Cambridge: as part of the school’s Empathy for Earth focus, Mickael ran a workshop for Year 4 children on empathy, the environment and illustration,. One of the spreads in 'Peace and Me' focuses on Wangari Maathai, the Ghanaian founder of the Green Belt Movement.
Reading a book is like walking in someone else’s shoes for a while.
And once we have walked in someone else’s shoes we can no longer judge them - we understand where they are coming from, and from understanding grows compassion and from compassion grows an urge to act for the good of that other person, and that act can change the whole world.
Atinuke Akinyemi
EmpathyLab is a great idea because it actively explores a core benefit of fiction for children, empathy. So much value is placed on children’s books as stepping stones for literacy, but little attention is paid to empathy, ultimately a greater skill to learn. So the EmpathyLab is very welcome. Matt Haig
In reading, you get to feel things, visit places and worlds you would never otherwise know. You learn that everyone else out there is a me, as well. Empathy is a tool for building people into groups, for allowing us to function as more than self-obsessed individuals. Neil Gaiman