Picture Books for Developing Empathy

Empathy

I’m sorry for you is sympathy

I feel your sorrow is empathy

Sympathy’s pitying somebody else

Empathy’s feeling their feelings yourself

If you can imagine, how it must be

To stand in their shoes: that’s empathy.

Colossal Words for Kids  (Quarto / CliPPA  Winner 2025 )

Colette Hillier has some interesting insights to share on Empathy, as relevant at this time of year as any and somehow even more so right now. I hope you enjoy reading her thoughts and exploring her beautiful, funny and spot on book a little further! Louise, Editor

As Malorie Blackman has said, “Reading is an exercise in empathy.” Picture books can be hugely effective in helping children to develop empathy,  as fictional characters can open children’s eyes to new perspectives and ways of thinking.

As a self-professed member of the anti-sentimental squad, I fervently believe that  the best books for promoting empathy are the ones that swerve sentimentality  entirely and banish any trace of earnestness. In my  opinion, children are rarely moved by sugar-coated, sentimental examples of kindness. Instead, they learn about kindness by laughing at rude people, spotting unfairness, arguing about characters and seeing the world through someone else’s eyes. Picture books have an important role to play here. The magic isn’t just in reading the stories.

A good picture book gives parents a sideways entrance into conversations which might be perceived as difficult, such as those around subjects like jealousy, fear, divorce, or loneliness. Children are often far more ready to talk about a character’s feeling than their own. But empathy doesn’t come from the story alone – it also comes from the follow-on conversations they spark, which is where the parent comes in. Some picture books that are particularly good at opening these conversations are:   

Things To Teach Your Grownup by Colette Hiller

At the risk of seeming immodest, as my first example I’ve included my new picture book. Things to Teach Your Grownup asks children to consider what may well be entirely new territory: A parent’s perspective! The questions prompted by this illustration are amusingly...baked in!  

What Do You Say, Dear? by Sesyle Joslin and Maurice Sendak

This 1958 classic uses a light touch to consider the business of manners, introducing them through imaginative, absurd scenarios. This humorous etiquette guide is therefore both instructive and entertaining for young readers. There is a natural follow-on conversation here, linking manners to empathy, asking how might good or bad manners make a person feel? 

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

In Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Mo Willems uses a satirical approach to explore emotion. The pigeon pleads, bargains and throws tantrums in an effort to get his own way. Child readers can talk about  the pigeon‘s (absolutely shocking) behaviour without it becoming personal. The follow on discussion becomes thought-probing and interesting. Did the pigeon do the right thing? What might you have done?

Horton Hatches the Egg - Dr Seuss

While the above are examples of stories that prompt useful conversations in/around empathy, other stories focus more on  moral  questions. For example, Dr Seuss’s Horton Hatches the Egg  promotes messages of fairness and reliability. We follow Horton as he keeps his promise to sit on an egg no matter how difficult it becomes. This quite naturally leads to a follow on discussion of  fairness and right and wrong – and why Horton felt as he did.   

And then there are stories addressing tricky issues like class and money.

Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne

This book tells the same story through four different perspectives Nothing much happens, but everything changes depending on who is telling the story. This neatly sets the scene for conversation, showing children that people can experience the same thing in entirely different ways. There is also an extra role for the adult reader here, as the story is only lightly sketched in few w

ords meaning the adult must fill in the gaps.  Indeed the child’s understanding of this  book depends on the accompanying conversation and questions from their adults.  

Granpa by John Burningham

Of all the difficult subjects, death is almost certainly the thorniest. There are many Grandpa books, but one is the stand out star: Granpa (1984, written and illustrated by John Burningham). Granpa tackles this topic with subtle, gentle brilliance, tracing the relationship between a child and her grandfather through quiet, everyday moments. They potter about together, make things, go places...They even have a row - though we’re not  told quite why. Nothing is spelled out, which is precisely its strength. In this book, children are invited to  think and ask questions for themselves. Above all, this is a  book where child readers can witness love, without ever seeing the word spelled out.

From fairness, to manners, relationships to death, these books give depth a light touch. They  create space for children to notice things for themselves. And that is precisely where empathy begins!   

Colette’s newest book Things To Teach Your Grown Up is published by Simon & Schuster Children’s Books and illustrated by Corrie Gorman. It is available for purchase now.

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