Tales About Empathy For Children
The stories about empathy for children generate in the little ones the ability to open up to a world of different realities. It is an essential quality to become aware of the lives and situations that other human beings face.
Although the concept of empathy that we handle today arises in 1909 with North American sociology, already in Aristotle’s philosophical postulates, dissertations were made on coexistence in a community and anticipating the reactions of others based on the understanding of the lives of others. .
Stories about empathy for children
An empathic individual is characterized by being a person with a healthy emotional intelligence, capable of considering those around him. This contemplation starts not only from the emotional point of view, when you feel sorry or excited about your problems or triumphs, but also because you can understand the mental states of others and, consequently, have a correct social relationship.
With literary stories, and regardless of the type of moral they contain at the end of the story, everyone is immersed in an imaginary world. This occurs especially in children, thanks to their sensitivity and the creation of mental images in which they can experience the lives of others from an affective or cognitive point of view.
Rare Bug looking for a friend, by Eva María Rodríguez
It tells the story of a fantastic forest, full of fairies, goblins, gnomes and dragons to which a new character arrived one day. He was very ugly, had green fur, pointed ears, and very small purple feet. Once he arrived in the forest, he tried by all means to converse or befriend the other fantastic beings that lived there.
These, on the contrary, did not want to know anything about him; They even nicknamed him the Weird Bug. Dejected with grief and rejection, he decided to take refuge in a cave to try to find comfort in his loneliness, while crying bitterly.
However, one day a huge green dragon appeared in front of Strange Bug’s eyes, which also had several physical defects, as it was missing one eye and was lame. The dragon asked Strange Bug: what was he doing there and why was he crying so much.
At his question, Weirdo told him the sad story of how despite trying to be nice, he had only received rejections and even an ugly nickname. The dragon immediately told him that he could be his friend if he wanted, since he did not care about his appearance.
From that day on, the two lived together and wandered everywhere outside the cave, ignoring the comments of the other characters. They understood, then, that happiness lies in appreciating each other without judgment.
The Pirate of the Stars, by Albert Arrayás
Ulysses was a pirate who was always very hungry. Since he could never satisfy his appetite, he decided to take a trip up to heaven to eat all the stars ; That way, I would never feel hungry again.
After a very long excursion, and thanks to the collaboration of whales, mermaids and even the wind, he managed to reach his destination. Once there, it began to devour each of the stars.
What happened next is that the sky was completely dark and the moon began to cry inconsolably. Ulysses immediately understood that his actions had brought terrible consequences for others.
Therefore, he decided that he must remedy what he had done. It was clear to him that consideration for others is an aspect that cannot be ignored.
Other stories about empathy for children
Here is a list of other titles of stories about empathy for children. These, in their beautiful illustrated editions, include games and exercises for children to further exercise this virtue:
- I’m the best, by Lucy Cousins.
- A Tale of Two Beasts, by Fiona Robertón.
- Five Minutes of Peace, by Jill Murphy.
- A Different Day for Mr. Amos, by Philip C. Stead
- Nuna can read minds, by Orit Gidali and Aya Gordon.
Ultimately, we recommend that you read these types of stories with your little one and ask him in detail what he felt about the situations that the characters in each story experienced. Then ask him how he can describe the actions of these characters. In this way, you will be able to evaluate their level of solidarity with others and their understanding of human behaviors.
