{"id":20421,"date":"2023-02-13T06:09:51","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T06:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booksfortopics.com\/?p=20421"},"modified":"2023-02-13T10:44:37","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T10:44:37","slug":"empathy-boosting-books-our-tower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booksfortopics.com\/empathy-boosting-books-our-tower\/","title":{"rendered":"Empathy-Boosting Books: Our Tower"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Empathy Collection Blog Tour<\/strong><\/h2>\n

What is EmpathyLab?<\/h3>\n
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\"empathyEmpathyLab is the first organisation to build children’s empathy, literacy and social activism through a systematic use of high-quality literature. Their strategy builds on new scientific evidence showing the power of reading to build real-life empathy skills, driven by a<\/span>\u00a0belief that empathy is a beacon of hope in a divided world.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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This month, Empathy Lab has launched the 2023 Read for Empathy collection of children’s books to build empathy. The primary collection features 40 books for 3-11-year-olds; the secondary collection has 25 books for 12-16-year-olds. They include picture books, novels, poetry, non-fiction and graphic and verse novels. Each offers young people different ways of experiencing, understanding and building empathy – ranging from inspiring social activism to exploring the power of empathy to heal difficult relationships. Many help young readers gain insight into different life experiences, from homelessness to hearing loss.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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EmpathyLab\u2019s founder, Miranda McKearney OBE, said:\u00a0<\/span>\u201cEach of the collection\u2019s wonderful books has been chosen to do a specific empathy-building job, giving educators practical tools to raise an empathy-educated generation. Imagine the power of every child being inspired to learn about the importance of empathy, and develop this critical life skill \u2013 the future would be in safe hands.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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Free Guides to the primary and secondary collections are available here\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/www.empathylab.uk\/RFE<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Empathy-Boosting Book Choice: Our Tower<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

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The team at Empathy Lab invited us to choose one of the titles in the collection to showcase as a brilliant empathy-boosting recommendation. We’ve selected Our Tower<\/a> by Joseph Coelho &\u00a0Richard Johnson, which was chosen by our Review Panel as one of our Books of the Month<\/a> back in December.<\/p>\n

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Our Tower tells the story of three children living in a tower block. Viewing their environment as \u201cconcrete and grey\u201d, they decide to seek out the glimpse of green they can see high up from their window.<\/p>\n

Finding the tree they have longed to see reveals a secret world of magic. Tumbling deep inside, they find \u201ca world deeper than anything Our Tower has ever seen.\u201d But the most significant discovery is the tree-grown man living within, who opens their eyes to the true magic. With his words, the children see that magic is everywhere, including in their tower. A tower full of love and community.<\/p>\n

This is a beautiful story inspired by author Joseph Coelho\u2019s own experience of growing up in a tower block and the author’s real-life experiences weave a deep element of empathy through the story, offering insight into the literal highs and lows of an urban upbringing.<\/p>\n

The new Children\u2019s Laureate brilliantly showcases the diversity and the incredible sense of community that living in a tower block is able to provide, showing how the real community is so much more magical than the boring, hard and grey high-rise flats that appear to dominate urban skylines. The tale brings a message about urbanisation, where there\u2019s a perceived distinction between countryside and urban spaces, yet this reminds us that nature is all around us, wherever we live, and everyone should have access to it.<\/p>\n