Every day I discover more and more beautiful things. It’s enough to drive one mad. I have such a desire to do everything, my head is bursting with it.
- Claude Monet
Dad Suggests was created to share with others the many different things that we have loved sharing with our own children.
Our hope is that - by reading or visiting our children’s bookstore - you will find something special to enjoy with your own family.
- Ryan
All tagged empathy
An interview with picture book author Trudy Ludwig - the champion of empathy and author of books like The Invisible Boy and the new release Brave Every Day.
Dad’s Bookshelf for June 2022 features 3 picture books that we’ve fallen in love with recently. Max’s Box, Endlessly Ever After, and Wildflower all deserve their spot on our shelf of our favorite picture books.
Talking about the books you read together with your kids can be vitally important. Sometimes major lessons can be lost without a nice followup conversation, and sometimes the wrong lessons entirely can be extracted.
Milo Imagines the World is a beautiful new picture book that helps combat stereotypes and build empathy. It was made by the same team that created Last Stop on Market Street, and there’s no doubt it will be an important and powerful book for many kids in the world.
If You Come to Earth by Sophie Blackall is a beautiful celebration of our diverse planet. A young boy writes a letter to an alien that explains everything you need to know about our planet. His description explores our differences while simultaneously highlighting the one thing that we all share - this beautiful planet that we all call home.
Nobody Likes a Goblin is a fantasy picture book by Ben Hatke that explores the themes of friendship, empathy, and belonging. Goblin is an endearing character that has a lot to teach kids about judging a book by its cover, and Ben Hatke crafts another beautiful fantasy world.
Have you ever stopped to consider how often you say no to your child’s requests to play - whether you have a good reason or not. Take the Say-Yes Challenge and spend more quality time playing with your kids for your benefit and theirs.
These are the best questions to ask at parent-teacher conferences. Their teacher is a treasure trove of knowledge about your child. Come prepared with these questions so that your next meeting with your child’s teacher doesn’t turn into a boring recitation of missing assignments and letter grades.
These are the best picture books to read on the first day of school, whether your kids are starting kindergarten or 6th grade. Use them to remind your kids to believe in themselves, and to be kind and stand up to bullies. And use them to remind your kids what’s really important in life.
As far as I’m concerned, books that tackle topics like empathy and friendship are tackling meaning of life stuff. They’re trying to give kids the tools to build meaningful relationships and spend their days on Earth in a worthwhile fashion. A Sick Day for Amos McGee provides these lessons better than any other picture book we have.
Julian Is a Mermaid is simply the ultimate champion of being yourself. I’ve never seen another book that teaches children to be true to themselves as well as this one. It also flies directly in the face of the arbitrary gender norms our kids might have already been exposed to and sets them up for a life of empathy, happiness, and confidence.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is a collection of 75 songs from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. The songs are presented as a volume of poetry, and they’re beautifully illustrated and brought to life by Luke Flowers. And it’s basically the only parenting manual you will ever need.
The Little Green Girl by Lisa Anchin is a beautiful picture book that reminds me to truly appreciate the people that I love for who they are. It’s a reminder to celebrate what it is that makes them special. And it’s a wonderful tool for teaching empathy to our kids.
Let’s Have a Dog Party! is a perfect addition to our collection of books that can teach empathy to kids. But it is certainly more than just an empathy lesson - it’s also a beautiful story about love and friendship.
Dragon Night by J. R. Krause is a beautiful, new picture book about friendship - and taking care of each other. And there are many reasons I’m very excited to add it to our collection of books that help pass empathy on to our children.
There’s a very good chance you’ve said this line to your own kids at one time or another: “You need to apologize right this instant!” Apologizing, after all, is important in our relationships. But did you know that not everybody believes forced apologies are good for kids? And if forced apologies aren’t effective, how are we supposed to pass on the empathy we want to teach?
A Family is a Family is a Family by Sara O’Leary is a picture book that celebrates love - and how it’s love that makes a family. The message inside is extremely important for kids. If you’re looking to vaccinate your child for bigotry, just read them this story every night.
These are the very best picture books that teach kids empathy. Teach your children how to empathize with others. All of these kids books do a spectacular job of placing you in the shoes of someone else, and they show you that other creatures have lives and feelings too.
