Today Empathy Lab launches the 2025 Read for Empathy collection of books for 3-
16-year-olds, alongside calling for empathy and emotional skills to be prioritised. Now in its 9th year, this unique list of 70 titles for children and young people aged 3-16+ has been carefully curated by a team of experts as a tool to help those living and working with children and young people to discover empathy-boosting reading recommendations in the run up to Empathy Day. As events both in the UK and worldwide have demonstrated empathy and understanding of others who may be different to ourselves is vital to improve relationships in communities. Sharing this selection of books feels like a positive and hopeful thing for us all to be involved in.

“The 2025 Read for Empathy collection of 70 books for 3-16-year-olds harnesses the power of books to build real-life empathy. It is part of a unique and growing UK empathy education movement”

Miranda McKearney OBE, EmpathyLab’s founder.

This is EmpathyLab’s ninth collection, with 40 books for 3-11-year-olds and 30 for 11-16-
year-olds. Each offers different ways of experiencing, understanding and building empathy. The collection features books by a diverse group of new and established authors and illustrators, including George the Poet, former Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho, Phil Earle and Hannah Gold.

Contemporary themes highlight the big social issues our children face, including characters affected by poverty, prejudice and racism. Many books underline the importance of understanding other people’s points of view, and respecting differences. Others address the urgent need for empathy for the environment, the conflicting expectations placed on young people, and empathy’s power to build stronger communities. There is a special section devoted to books which help young readers understand and share emotions.

“This collection allows young people to get close to characters, to get close to issues and to be provoked to think. Provoked to care. And to then do something about it”

Professor Teresa Cremin, Open University (Empathy Collection Judging Panel)

Schools and libraries can register now for free Empathy Day Festival resources and events. Running from 2-12 June, with Empathy Day on Thursday 12 June, this major Festival is free and open to all to get involved and inspired. You can register at www.empathylab.uk/Eday-registration.

You can see all the books featured in the collection here on the Empathy Lab website. I would like to highlight just a few of them. Among the books selected for ‘understanding and sharing emotions’ is April’s Garden by by Isla McGuckin illustrated by Catalina Echeverri on the theme of homelessness and reviewed here by school librarian Jayne Truran for Just Imagine. There are a couple of early readers listed one of which, Sidney and Carrie Have a Party by Lisa Thompson, illustrated by Jess Rose I reviewed when it was first published. I think that this gentle story demonstrates the importance of compromise and negotiation in friendships and you can read my full review here. The popularity of graphic novels has ensured that these are included in the collection and Rune: The Tale of a Thousand Faces by Carlos Sanchez is reviewed by teacher Paul Watson on his Great British Bookworm blog.

I was delighted to see a couple of my recent favourites published by Barrington Stoke included and can well understand why they feature. Tom Palmer’s meticulously researched historical fiction always respects both his subject and his young readers and in Angel of Grasmere he highlights both the strain for those left at home during war and the sometimes devasting effects of war on participants’ mental health. Sometimes humour can convey emotions and experiences in a manner that make them more accessible for young people. The dialogue, the relationships and the situations in Northern Soul by Phil Earle are given an authenticity that ensure this story will resonate with many. Readers will empathise easily with Marv as he lurches from one embarrassing crisis to the next.

This is just the briefest of glimpses at the wide range of genres and themes covered in the collection so do please visit the website to discover more about the suggested books. From today free Guides to the Read for Empathy collection can be downloaded from www.empathylab.uk/RFE.

‘The empathy collection is a really powerful way in to help our children develop empathy skills with each other, but also with those in other situations across the world. I think we have both a professional and a moral duty to do that”

Jon Biddle, Moorlands Primary Academy