Empathy Day

Today is Empathy Day and, as the Empathy Lab perfectly states: "never has empathy and connection been more needed."

Empathy Lab want to encourage as many people as possible to #ReadForEmpathy to help us connect with others and create a world with more empathy. They have curated a wonderful collection of stories you can use to do this, which can be found here. Lots of my favourites are on this list, but today I'm going to post reviews of two of the Barrington Stoke titles featured. Barrington Stoke are a brilliant publisher who encourage empathy and understanding with all of their titles, in a format accessible to a wide range of readers.

It's a No-Money Day by Kate Milner is a picture book about a little girl and her mum who don't have enough money for the things many of us take for granted, and often use a food bank to get their food. It's a touching, poignant story which introduces children who have no awareness of poverty to what is an everyday reality for many children across the country. The little girl in the story is positive and hopeful, dreaming of a pet cat, cakes and her favourite cereal - things that lots of readers will get/have without giving them much thought. It is a book which would work well in schools ahead of a food bank collection. There are lots of conversations you can have both while and after reading.

The Great Telephone Mix Up is written by Sally Nicholls and illustrated by Sheena Dempsey. It is set in a village where mixed-up phone lines lead to people developing a greater understanding of what those around them are going through. New, unexpected connections are formed and many lives are changed for the better. A boy who is always getting into trouble for climbing finds a hobby that will allow him to do what he loves safely. A lady who runs most of the village events single-handedly gets help for the first time. An elderly lady has more visitors and makes new friends. The phone-line mix up brings everyone together in a story that will delight young readers and have them giggling throughout.