EmpathyLab's Read for Empathy

Empathy is our ability to understand and share someone else's feelings, and is an essential life skill, crucial if our young people and communities are to thrive. We're not born with a fixed quantity of empathy - it's a skill we can learn. And excitingly, research shows that books are a powerful tool to develop it. In identifying with book characters, young people learn to see things from other points of view. As they read, they are building their empathy skills.

EmpathyLab is the first organisation to build children's empathy, literacy and activism through the books and reading, and we work in partnership with them to bring you the Read for Empathy book collections and free downloadable guides.

Read for Empathy collections 2022

The new Read for Empathy collections are out now, featuring 60 books for 4–16 year olds, with each chosen to do a specific job in building young people's empathy.

Order your 2022 primary and secondary packs today!