Hey, Little Ant by Phillip Hoose; Hannah Hoose; Debbie Tilley
To squish or not, that is the question that opens up this dialogue between a kid and an ant. Expect this Empathy question, "If you were me and I were you, what would you want me to do?" to open up an interesting discussion.

Everyone by Christopher Silas Neal
Everyone has emotions! Feelings are universal no matter who you are and where you come from. Once students understand their feelings, they can begin to empathize with others when they realize that their friends and neighbors have those same feelings.

A Family Is a Family Is a Family by Sara O'Leary; Qin Leng
This story celebrates all the different ways a family may look. Children learn how to feel confident and proud of their family. It can also help children understand and build Empathy for families that don't look like theirs.

You, Me and Empathy by Jayneen Sanders; Sofia Cardoso
Students will learn all about the different emotions associated with Empathy and how they can use Empathy and their feelings to connect with people. Throughout the story, Quinn shows an abundance of understanding, compassion, and kindness towards others.

Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco
This is the delightful story of two neighbors who first bond over a kitten, then on their different, yet similar life experiences.

Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco
This is the delightful story of two neighbors who first bond over a kitten, then on their different, yet similar life experiences.

Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts; Noah Z. Jones
All Jeremy wants is a pair of those shoes, the ones everyone at school seems to be wearing. Though Jeremy's grandma says they don't have room for "want," just "need," when his old shoes fall apart at school, he is more determined than ever to have those shoes, even a thrift-shop pair that are much too small. But sore feet aren't much fun, and Jeremy soon sees that the things he has -- warm boots, a loving grandma, and the chance to help a friend --- are worth more than the things he wants.

Lovely by Jess Hong
Big, small, curly, straight, loud, quiet, smooth, wrinkly. Lovely explores a world of differences that all add up to the same thing: we are all lovely!

Enemy Pie by Derek Munson; Tara Calahan King
It was the perfect summer. That is, until Jeremy Ross moved into the house down the street and became neighborhood enemy number one. Luckily Dad had a surefire way to get rid of enemies: Enemy Pie. But part of the secret recipe is spending an entire day playing with the enemy!

Watch on Storyline Online!

We're All Wonders by R. J. Palacio
Augie enjoys the company of his dog, Daisy, and using his imagination, but painfully endures the taunts of his peers because of his facial deformity.

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold; Suzanne Kaufman
In our classroom safe and sound. Fears are lost and hope is found. Discover a school where all young children have a place, have a space, and are loved and appreciated.

The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson; Rafael López; Rafael López
There will be times when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you. There are many reasons to feel different. Maybe it's how you look or talk, or where you're from; maybe it's what you eat, or something just as random. It's not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet, but somehow you do it.

A Sick Day for Amos Mcgee by Philip C. Stead;
Friends come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. In Amos McGee's case, all sorts of species, too! Every day he spends a little bit of time with each of his friends at the zoo, running races with the tortoise, keeping the shy penguin company, and even reading bedtime stories to the owl. But when Amos is too sick to make it to the zoo, his animal friends decide it's time they returned the favor.

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Empathy Is My SuperPower by Bryan Smith; Lisa M. Griffin
Why does her brother cry when it's dark? Why does her classmate Kayla take so long to do her math? And what's up with that strange-smelling dish that Priya brings to lunch every day? With the help of her parents, Amelia soon learns about the importance of empathy and starts to see the power it can have! Will Amelia be able to put her new-found skill to good use and help others find the strength in empathy as well?

My Heart by Corinna Luyken
My heart is a window. My heart is a slide. My heart can be closed...or opened up wide. Some days your heart is a puddle or a fence to keep the world out. But some days it is wide open to the love that surrounds you.

The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld
When something sad happens, Taylor doesn't know where to turn. All the animals are sure they have the answer. The chicken wants to talk it out, but Taylor doesn't feel like chatting. The bear thinks Taylor should get angry, but that's not quite right either. One by one, the animals try to tell Taylor how to act, and one by one they fail to offer comfort. Then the rabbit arrives. All the rabbit does is listen . . . which is just what Taylor needs.

I Walk with Vanessa by Kerascoët
An elementary school girl witnesses the bullying of another girl, but she is not sure how to help.

The Wall by Eve Bunting; Ronald Himler
A boy and his father visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which his grandfather's name is on. They visit the wall to pay their respect and remember him. The story captures the meaning of the memorial to the American people, especially to those who lost loved ones.

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling
Join Aven on her adventures, including a mystery, as she learns to navigate life a little differently.

The Potato Chip Champ by Maria Dismondy; Dawn Beacon
Champ has everything and can't get enough; Walter has very little yet always has a smile. Could Empathy help the two boys from different worlds find common ground beyond their love for baseball and potato chips?

Just My Luck by Cammie McGovern
Benny Barrows has hit a streak of bad luck. His best friend moved away and he still hasn't found a new one at school, his father had an accident which Benny blames himself for, and he compares himself with his brother who has autism and a better biker rider than him. Benny is struggling at school and home so his mother encourages him to use his big heart to focus on helping others.

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhhà Lai
Ha spent years waiting for her father to return from the Vietnam War and months in refugee camps. Her family is forced to flee Saigon and move to Alabama where Ha struggles to learn a new language, live in a new land, and deal with cruel classmates. Readers will empathize with Ha as she faces adversity, heals from the pain of her past, and adjusts to her new life.

Not So Different by Shane Burcaw; Matt Carr
Shane Burcaw was born with a rare disease called spinal muscular atrophy, which hinders his muscles' growth. As a result, his body hasn't grown bigger and stronger as he's gotten older--it's gotten smaller and weaker instead. This hasn't stopped him from doing the things he enjoys (like eating pizza and playing sports and video games) with the people he loves, but it does mean that he routinely relies on his friends and family for help with everything from brushing his teeth to rolling over in bed.

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate
Trees can't tell jokes, but they can certainly tell stories. . . . Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the neighborhood "wishtree"--people write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to Red's branches. Along with a crow named Bongo and other animals who seek refuge in Red's hollows, this wishtree watches over the neighborhood. You might say Red has seen it all. Until a new family moves in. Not everyone is welcoming, and Red's experience as a wishtree is more important than ever.

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
In Caitlin's world, everything is black or white. Things are good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That's the stuff Caitlin's older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now Devon's dead and Dad is no help at all. Caitlin wants to get over it, but as an eleven-year-old girl with Asperger's, she doesn't know how. When she reads the definition of closure, she realizes that is what she needs. In her search for it, Caitlin discovers that not everything is black and white--the world is full of colors--messy and beautiful.

Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin
Rose Howard is obsessed with homonyms. She's thrilled that her own name is a homonym, and she purposely gave her dog Rain a name with two homonyms (Reign, Rein), which, according to Rose's rules of homonyms, is very special. Not everyone understands Rose's obsessions, her rules, and the other things that make her different - not her teachers, not other kids, and not her single father. When a storm hits their rural town, rivers overflow, the roads are flooded, and Rain goes missing. Rose's father shouldn't have let Rain out. Now Rose has to find her dog, even if it means leaving her routines and safe places to search.

Auggie and Me: Three Wonder Stories by R. J. Palacio
These stories are an extra peek at Auggie before he started at Beecher Prep and during his first year there. Readers get to see him through the eyes of Julian, the bully; Christopher, Auggie's oldest friend; and Charlotte, Auggie's new friend at school.

Posted by John David Anderson
In middle school, words aren't just words. They can be weapons. They can be gifts. The right words can win you friends or make you enemies. They can come back to haunt you. Sometimes they can change things forever. When cell phones are banned at Branton Middle School, Frost and his friends Deedee, Wolf, and Bench come up with a new way to communicate: leaving sticky notes for each other all around the school. It catches on, and soon all the kids in school are leaving notes--though for every kind and friendly one, there is a cutting and cruel one as well. In the middle of this, a new girl named Rose arrives at school and sits at Frost's lunch table. Rose is not like anyone else at Branton Middle School, and it's clear that the close circle of friends Frost has made for himself won't easily hold another. As the sticky-note war escalates, and the pressure to choose sides mounts, Frost soon realizes that after this year, nothing will ever be the same.

Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
Eleven-year-old Melody is not like most people. She can't walk. She can't talk. She can't write. All because she has cerebral palsy. But she also has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She's the smartest kid in her whole school, but NO ONE knows it. Most people--her teachers, her doctors, her classmates--dismiss her as mentally challenged because she can't tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by her disability. And she's determined to let everyone know it...somehow.

A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold; Charles Santoso
For Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat), life tends to be full of surprises--some of them good, some not so good. Today, though, is a good-surprise day. Bat's mom, a veterinarian, has brought home a baby skunk, which she needs to take care of until she can hand him over to a wild-animal shelter. But the minute Bat meets the kit, he knows they belong together. And he's got one month to show his mom that a baby skunk might just make a pretty terrific pet. "This sweet and thoughtful novel chronicles Bat's experiences and challenges at school with friends and teachers and at home with his sister and divorced parents.

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart
Five years. That's how long Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, have lived on the road in an old school bus, criss-crossing the nation. It's also how long ago Coyote lost her mom and two sisters in a car crash. Coyote hasn't been home in all that time, but when she learns that the park in her old neighborhood is being demolished--the very same park where she, her mom, and her sisters buried a treasured memory box--she devises an elaborate plan to get her dad to drive 3,600 miles back to Washington state in four days...without him realizing it. Along the way, they'll pick up a strange crew of misfit travelers. Lester has a lady love to meet. Salvador and his mom are looking to start over. Val needs a safe place to be herself. And then there's Gladys... Over the course of thousands of miles, Coyote will learn that going home can sometimes be the hardest journey of all...but that with friends by her side, she just might be able to turn her "once upon a time" into a "happily ever after."

Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly; Isabel Roxas
Virgil Salinas is shy and kindhearted and feels out of place in his crazy-about-sports family. Valencia Somerset, who is deaf, is smart, brave, and secretly lonely, and she loves everything about nature. Kaori Tanaka is a self-proclaimed psychic, whose little sister, Gen, is always following her around. And Chet Bullens wishes the weird kids would just stop being so different so he can concentrate on basketball. They aren't friends, at least not until Chet pulls a prank that traps Virgil and his pet guinea pig at the bottom of a well. This disaster leads Kaori, Gen, and Valencia on an epic quest to find missing Virgil.