Books for Kids
Anitha Rao-Robinson
Aubrey Davis
Editors and Illustrators of Pyjama Press
Jon J Muth
Alison Jay
Steve Jenkins, Derek Walter
Philippe Cousteau
Hanna Johansen
Phillip Hoose, Hannah Hoose
Brian Wildsmith
Patrick McDonnell
Brenda Z. Guiberson
Michael Foreman
Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff
Saving Stella A Dog’s Dramatic Escape from War
Bassel Abou Fakher and Deborah Blumenthal
Jen Cullerton Johnson
Milan Pavlovic
Sara Pennypacker
The Fan Brothers
Veronika Martenova Charles
Thich Nhat Hahn
Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving
Dav Pilkey
Books for Adults
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Ishmael Beah
Empathy: Why It Matters, and How to Get It
Roman Krznaric
Girls of Riyadh
Rajaa al-Sanea
Half the Sky
Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
Inside the Wire
Erik Saar
Iqbal
Francesco D’Adamo
Jarhead
Anthony Swofford
Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War
Leymah Gbowee
Safe Area Gorazde
Joe Sacco
Selling Olga
Louisa Waugh
Sold
Patricia McCormick
The Age of Empathy: Nature’s Lessons For a Kinder Society
Frans De Waal
The Color Purple
Alice Walker
The Merchants of Fear
Christopher Catherwood, Joe DiVanna
The Natashas: Inside the New Global Sex Trade
Victor Malarek
Jamil Zaki
They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children
Roméo Dallaire
Unfair Trade
Conor Woodman
Videos for Kids
Sesame Street: Empathy
Sesame Street
Mark Ruffalo and Murray talk about the word “Empathy”
AnimalSmart™ Character Development Series – Responsibility
PETA
PETA’s “Share the World” program for elementary students teaches the Golden Rule as it relates to animals, asks children to think how they are similar to animals, and lists actions they can take to help animals. The “Share the World” program also includes activities for children and teacher guides, available for free: https://headlines.peta.org/teachkind-share-the-world/
AnimalSmart™ Character Development Series – Respect
Ontario SPCA and Humane Society
Emerson, spokes-kid for the Ontario SPCA AnimalSmart™ humane education program, talks about about respect for animals – both domesticated and wild – and respect for nature. The program includes activities for children and lesson plans for free: https://ontariospca.ca/what-we-do/humane-education/animalsmart/
AnimalSmart™ Character Development Series – Responsibility
Ontario SPCA and Humane Society
Emerson, spokes-kid for the AnimalSmart™ humane education program, talks about Responsibility for animals, people and the environment. The program includes activities for children and lesson plans for free: https://ontariospca.ca/what-we-do/humane-education/animalsmart/
Videos for Adults
Greta Thunberg’s Message #ForNature
Mercy for Animals
Environmental activist Greta Thunberg partners with Mercy For Animals to speak out about animal agriculture and highlight its connection to the environmental crisis.
Mentions interdependence, impact on humans (e.g. COVID), empathy, and asks “What will you do?” as a call to action
Brené Brown on Empathy
The RSA (Royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce)
Empathy vs sympathy
What is the best way to ease someone’s pain and suffering? In this beautifully animated RSA Short, Dr Brené Brown reminds us that we can only create a genuine empathic connection if we are brave enough to really get in touch with our own fragilities.
Dominion
Farm Transparency Project
Dominion uses drones, hidden and handheld cameras to expose the dark underbelly of modern animal agriculture, questioning the morality and validity of humankind’s dominion over the animal kingdom. While mainly focusing on animals used for food, it also explores other ways animals are exploited and abused by humans, including clothing, entertainment and research.
Mentions interdependence, impact on humans (e.g. COVID), empathy, and asks “What will you do?” as a call to action
The Turning Point
Steve Cutts
Ths animated short explores the destruction of the environment, climate change and species extinction from a different perspective (animals and humans flipped).
What animals are thinking and feeling, and why it should matter
TEDxMidAtlantic
Carl Safina takes us inside the lives and minds of animals around the world, witnessing their profound capacity for perception, thought and emotion, showing why the word “it” is often inappropriate as we discover “who” they really are. And yet, we are wiping out the very animals we should celebrate; we are the flood coming for Noah’s Ark. Carl leaves us with a difficult question: Do we have what it takes to let life on earth survive?
Grief and love in the animal kingdom
TED
From mourning orcas to distressed elephants, biological anthropologist Barbara J. King has witnessed grief and love across the animal kingdom. In this eye-opening talk, she explains the evidence behind her belief that many animals experience complex emotions, and suggests ways all of us can treat them more ethically — including every time we eat. “Animals don’t grieve exactly like we do, but this doesn’t mean that their grief isn’t real,” she says. “It is real, and it’s searing, and we can see it if we choose.“
Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? Reprise music video by Moby
Moby
Updated music video to Moby’s ‘Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?’, reflecting what’s happening to humans animals, and the environment and imagining a better world
The Neurochemistry Of Empathy, Explained With Claymation
The RSA (Royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce)
Want to understand the science behind empathy? This quick video explains why and when we care.
https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/the-neurochemistry-of-empathy-explained-with-claymation/
Being with Jane Goodall
NOVA’s Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers
Jane Goodall opens her heart to animals and tells us why we should, too.
Articles
4 Ways To Tap Into The Transformational Power Of Empathy To Find Common Humanity
Forbes
Three types of empathy and two theories of how we empathize. Includes empathy for animals and the environment.
What, Me Care? Young Are Less Empathetic
Scientific American
A 2011 study finds a decline in empathy among young people in the U.S.
Exploring environmental empathy in action with children’s books (Daniel Holm)
Daniel Holm
This article defines “environmental empathy in action”, and highlights both fiction and nonfiction children’s books where the characters are actively trying to protect the environment. These stories, which contain characters engaged in what is termed environmental empathy in action, provides a springboard for discussing both environmental issues and ways in which people are trying to solve these issues.
Psychology Today
Psychology Today outlines the basics of empathy, including developing empathy, empathy in relationships, and the downsidecof empathy.