Books About Empathy: We Don't Eat Our Classmates

Ryan T. Higgins' book, "We Don't Eat Our Classmates", is a delightfully absurd lesson for children of all ages on the golden rule.

For those who might not remember what the golden rule is, "Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You". It's simply the notion that you do to others what you'd like those people to do to you. It's simple and straightforward yet, in this day and age we need to be reminded of it once in a while.

This is being taught in some schools now as "Empathy". The concept of feeling what another person is feeling in their heart, in yours. This is the perfect book to teach this lesson in humanity. My school, like many others I would venture to guess, is choked full of purpose-written books to teach social lessons. These are usually pretty boring and mundane. Books like "We Don't Eat Our Classmates" teaches the same ideals in a far more engaging manner. Don't buy the lesson kits, search and find real books by real authors and real illustrators that teach the lessons you want to teach in a much better, funner, way.

I don't want to say too much about this book, plot wise, as you should experience it yourself.

Suffice it to say that we have a T-rex named Penelope who is facing her first day at school. She's excited to go to school but life throws a wrench into the works as she discovers that her class is populated entirely by children and, as every young T-rex knows, "children are delicious". She can not understand why she can't eat them after all she's a T-rex.

Fortunately, with the help of the class pet, she learns a valuable lesson in empathy.

It's a must-read I think for children and parents alike. It's funny and entertaining all the way through. I've read it to a first-grade class and they loved it. More importantly, they got the message.

Content: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Concept: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Price: 5/5

Author: Ryan Higgins
Illustrator: the author
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 48
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1368003559
ISBN-13: 978-1368003551
Date: 2018
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion; First Edition edition (June 19, 2018)
Price: $9.75 (at the time of this post)
Where to buy: Amazon