At 9am, Waterstones Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho will launch the festival with a nationwide assembly, featuring special guests Cressida Cowell, Chris Riddell, Jacqueline Wilson, plus a NEW and EXCLUSIVE poem!
The line up is live NOW! To see the schedule, click here;(https://www.empathylab.uk/empathy-day-live)
FREE expertly created resources for children and young people:
The 2023 Family Activity Pack: Wonderful activities you can do at home – you don’t need more than a pen and paper to take part!
https://www.empathylab.uk/family-activities-pack-2023
2023 Read for Empathy Collection: 65 books for 3-16-year-olds, selected by an expert judging panel.
https://www.empathylab.uk/RFE-2023
Empathy Shorts: Exclusive and free empathy-boosting short stories by top authors.
https://www.empathylab.uk/empathy-shorts
Illustrators’ Gallery: New illustrations for your displays.
https://www.empathylab.uk/RfE-illustrators-gallery
Organised by not-for-profit EmpathyLab, Empathy Day helps young people learn more about empathy, and uses books to help them experience its transformational power. It harnesses the power of reading to build real-life empathy, as evidenced by scientific research which shows that we are not born with a fixed quantity of empathy – it’s a skill we can all learn.
Authors and illustrators taking part in Empathy Day include:
• Chris Riddell, former Children’s Laureate and award-winning author and illustrator
• Rob Biddulph, bestselling and multi award-winning author/illustrator of children’s books and named as a Point of Light by the Prime Minister, an award that recognises outstanding individuals who are affecting change in their community
• Rashmi Sirdeshpande, British Indian author of children’s books and author of We’ve Got This: Six Steps to Build your Empathy Superpower
• Joseph Coelho, current Children’s Laureate and award-winning poet and author
• Cressida Cowell, who will publish a new ‘Dragon’ story on 8th June to tie in with the 20th anniversary of her beloved children’s book How to Tame Your Dragon
Joseph Coelho will be launching the Empathy Day LIVE! programme, with a special assembly that he recorded in Nuneaton Library, as part of his incredibly exciting Library Marathon, during which Joseph aims to join a library in every UK authority – 209 libraries. He has also written a poem to mark the occasion. Chris Riddell will also be taking part in Empathy Day Live by sharing his empathy resolutions, and Rob Biddulph and Rashmi Sirdeshpande will be playing empathy games with more than 800 children in the Manchester Velodrome.
Backed by over 40 major children’s publishers, Empathy Day has grown significantly in the seven years since its inception and is supported by schools, libraries, families, authors and illustrators across the country. Inspired by scientific research showing that empathy is a learnable skill and that stories can help us understand each other better, Empathy Day invites children and families to take part in a number of activities that give children the opportunity to practice and develop empathy skills.
Empathy Action Month runs every November, providing a month-long opportunity for schools, libraries and families to focus on putting empathy into action, using the Empathy Resolutions they set during Empathy Day as a way of prompting change and social action and preparing for the following year. For more information on last year, click here.
