Reading Children
There are many articles about books for children that promote empathy. Differentiate between books for adults (READING LITERATURE) and those for children.
A problem is that many of the books do not teach a deep empathy.
Mental health: Can reading books really teach empathy?
The right stories can do wonderful things around helping young people to understand other people's feelings, according to the founders of Empathy Day
Miranda McKearney and Jo Cotterill
27th May 2021
"How to increase empathy with books
When discussing a book, focus more on characters and their feelings than the plot.
Allow children time to ponder responses to gently exploratory questions: “Which character was the most interesting?” and “Why do you think X behaves in this way?”
Ring-fence time to read a shared book aloud, including at secondary level. This helps build an empathic reading community, with everyone gaining insights into each other."
EmpathyLab is the first organisation to build children's empathy, literacy and social activism through a systematic use of high quality literature. Our strategy builds on new scientific evidence showing the power of reading to build real-life empathy skills.We believe that empathy is a beacon of hope in a divided world.
25 CHILDREN’S BOOKS THAT INSPIRE EMPATHY
BY SARA LANGE
07/09/18
"Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. And that ability is not something we are born with, it is a characteristic we develop over time and learn through example. Reading, of course, is an excellent way to cultivate empathy and develop moral imagination. “Books can transport children to other worlds and transform their hearts. And it’s a rare parent who doesn’t believe that reading is crucial for their children’s success, and widespread data supports those views,”"