One of a book’s many superpowers is the ability to help its readers develop the skill of empathy. Through books, we can explore the lives of others, gain new perspectives, and develop our understandings of ourselves.

This year’s Read for Empathy collection features a wonderful range of titles which are guaranteed to get readers thinking. Empathy Day is on June 6th – there’ll be lots of special resources available to download but the collection is perfect to explore all year round.

I’m thrilled to be sharing with you one of the books from the collection aimed at helping children explore their emotions. Author Nadia Shireen said that, as a particularly anxious person herself, Geoffrey was close to her heart. I’ve used Nadia’s books a lot when working with children and they promote a lot of interesting conversations and self-reflection. They also promote a lot of giggling because as well as having important themes at heart, they are also a bucketload of fun to read!

“Geoffrey’s got the jitters! It started last night when he was thinking about school – a funny, wiggly feeling in his tummy that grew and grew. But when Geoffrey’s tummy jitters started talking to him – that’s when he knew they were out of control. Geoffrey had to do something…”

‘Geoffrey Gets the Jitters’ is an ideal choice if you want to get children to start noticing where in their body’s they feel certain emotions and to start developing effective strategies to self-regulate when they start to feel anxious or worried themselves. By suggesting ways that Geoffrey could calm his jitters, they will also give clues as to what may support them.

An absolutely brilliant read for anyone who sometime feels a little bit worried about things and enjoys books which will make them laugh.

Jo.