2017 Authors on Empathy Day

Some amazing authors visited schools as part of Empathy Day

Talking about the importance of empathy in our fractured world

Sharing with children the craft of creating empathetic characters

Sharing book recommendations as part of the #ReadforEmpathy campaign

Some are also presenting Empathy Awards - to the characters children have voted for!
Elizabeth Laird 

is visiting Moorlands Primary Academy, Great Yarmouth, for their Empathy Day focus on refugees. The children were very moved by her book Welcome to Nowhere, researched in Syrian refugee camps, and now want to fundraise for her recommended charity, The Mandala Trust.
Gemma Cairney 

will be at the International Community School, London, for a session chaired by young people. Inspired by Gemma’s new book, Open, they will talk about empathy’s centrality to relationships and the Importance of putting it into action. Everyone will make empathy pledges to make a difference in the community, and create a shared #ReadforEmpathy book bank.
 
Cathy Cassidy 

is at Sheffield’s Beck Primary School, sharing with KS2 children why she thinks empathy matters so much right now. She’ll talk about the characters in her new book, Love from Lexie, and present Empathy Awards to book characters voted for by children as having shown exceptional empathy.
 
Alan MacDonald

the Dirty Bertie author is at Beck Primary School where he is Patron of Reading. He’s worked with teachers all year to help children empathise with book characters and set up a real life Empathy Leaders initiative in the playground. On the Day he will also present Empathy Awards.
 
Ross Montgomery

is working with a Year 6 book group at Dulwich Preparatory School. Their session will focus on empathy-related themes from Ross’ book, Perijee and Me.
Katie Thisleton

The popular CBBC presenter visits St Michael’s Primary in Rochdale where the children have been learning about empathy all year. She will talk to the children about its importance in life, and ask for their ideas in answering letters from children who write to her about their problems. The letters and Katie’s answers will be published in Dear Katie in 2018 .
 
Jo Cotterill 

celebrates Empathy Day by leading an empathy-focused session at Shire Hall, Hereford. This is part of young people’s work shadowing the Carnegie Medal. She will talk about Darby, the Downs Syndrome character in her latest book, Storm of Strawberries.
 
Tamsyn Murray

is visiting Wroxham Primary School in Hertfordshire in her role as Patron of Reading. The school is using Empathy Day to launch a new focus on empathy, as part of their partnership with EmpathyLab in a group of 14 pioneer primary schools.
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