Books for Kids
50 Awesome Ways Kids Can Help Animals: Fun and Easy Ways to be a Kind Kid
Ingrid Newkirk
A Family For Faru
Anitha Rao-Robinson
A Hen for Izzy Pippik
Aubrey Davis
A World of Kindness
Editors and Illustrators of Pyjama Press
Addy’s Cup Of Sugar
Jon J Muth
Bee and Me
Alison Jay
Big Bear Hug
Nicholas Oldland
Charlotte’s Web
E.B. White
Each Kindness
Jacqueline Woodson
Elephant Journey: The True Story of Three Zoo Elephants and their Rescue From Captivity
Rob Laidlaw
Esther the Wonder Pig
Steve Jenkins, Derek Walter
Follow the Moon Home
Philippe Cousteau
Ginger Finds a Home
Charlotte Voake
Greta Thurnberg
Isabel Vegara
Gwen the Rescue Hen
Leslie Crawford
Henrietta and the Golden Eggs
Hanna Johansen
Hey Little Ant
Phillip Hoose, Hannah Hoose
Hunter and His Dog
Brian Wildsmith
I Am Human: A Book of Empathy
Susan Verde
I Am One: A Book of Action
Susan Verde
Intersection Allies: we make room for all
Carolyn Choi and Chelsea Johnson
Jake and Ava: A Boy and a Fish
Jonathan Balcombe
June Bug: No Life Too Small
Nicole Daniels
Lost and Found Cat
Doug Kuntz and Amy Shrodes
Me…Jane
Patrick McDonnell
Moon Bear
Brenda Z. Guiberson
No Shelter Here: Making the World A Kinder Place For Dogs
Rob Laidlaw
One Plastic Bag Isatou Ceesay And The Recycling Women Of The Gambia
Miranda Paul
One World
Michael Foreman
Owen & Mzee
Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff
Saving Lives and Changing Hearts: Animal Sanctuaries
Rob Laidlaw
Saving Stella A Dog’s Dramatic Escape from War
Bassel Abou Fakher and Deborah Blumenthal
Saving Yasha The Incredible True Story of an Adopted Moon Bear
Lia Kvatum
Seeds of Change
Jen Cullerton Johnson
Sonata for Fish and Boy
Milan Pavlovic
Sparrow Girl
Sara Pennypacker
Sprig the Pig
Leslie Crawford
Sprig the Rescue Pig
Leslie Crawford, Sonia Stangl
That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals
Ruby Roth
The Barnabus Project
The Fan Brothers
The Birdman
Veronika Martenova Charles
The Coconut Monk
Thich Nhat Hahn
The Egg
Geraldo Valerio
The Elephant’s New Shoe
Laurel Neme
The Enemy: A Book About Peace
Davide Cali
The Lady and the Spider
Faith McNulty
The Light in Me Sees the Light in You
Lori Nichols
The Little Hummingbird
Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
The Magic Finger
Roald Dahl
The Three Questions
Jon J Muth
The Watcher
Jeanette Winter
Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving
Dav Pilkey
V is for Vegan: The ABC’s of Being Kind
Ruby Roth
Vegan is Love Having Heart and Taking Action
Ruby Roth
Watership Down
Richard Adams
We are Water Protectors
Carole Lindstrom
Zoo
Anthony Browne
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
The War for Kindness
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 – 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? [section on empathy]
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 imaginging 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.
