Every child deserves the chance to have an empathetic adult in their lives, and Miss Flotsam shows how powerfully transformative this can be. With echoes of Helen Oxenbury’s illustration style, Løvlie’s characters glow, while her detailed, textured depictions of the seashore feel really alive. The teachers we work with stress how important it is for children to be able to recognise and name their feelings. It all gets a bit much and she throws a wobbler - which was suddenly actually there, hovering above her head. A warm, gentle book which helps explore the universal experience of first-born children, with fascinating insights into life and cultural traditions in India.

She gets involved in the dubious futuristic Pomegranate Institute, and is confronted by momentous ethical questions: – what is perfection? After a lifetime of doodling in the sidelines, Nadia decided to pay some attention to drawing and in 2007 was accepted onto an MA course in children’s book illustration at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. Really helps us grasp how everyday decisions – about food, fashion and much more – can affect animals, wildlife and the environment . The books are a brilliant resource to use as part of Empathy Day on 9 June, and any time afterwards too.The world so badly needs more empathy, and non-profit EmpathyLab aims to raise an empathy-educated generation, to build a more caring and less divided world. teachers nominated from the 85 involved in the shortlistingwill now form the final judging panel and have the challenging task of reading all the shortlisted books in all categories.

The judges chose Linda Newbery’s powerful non-fiction book to help build understanding and action – as she says “it’s not difficult to realise animals have feelings”. When disaster looms, she’s saved by an eccentric neighbour with leopard print leggings and a penchant for coconut macaroons who, like the book itself, joyously reclaims the word weirdo. The Jack of the illustrations are utterly convincing, a testimony to the fact that the illustrator worked so closely with the ‘real’ Jack (who happens to be on the autistic spectrum). Barbara wants to ditch her pals, as she’s in a massive mood – it’s “gloopy and heavy, like an angry jelly”.A totally silent little boy is nurtured by empathetic teacher Miss Flotsam who builds his confidence to realise his voice is beautiful, until he finally uses it, very movingly. Three shifty-looking animals in hats contemplate falling rocks, the need for naps and whether the future holds terrifying one-eyed hexapods intent on destruction. All will surely love his latest, The Rock from the Sky (Walker), a picture book in five vignettes with a distinct, absurdist flavour and Klassen’s trademark muted palette. A bright and colourful story about being a good friend (and saying sorry), perfectly pitched for older toddlers and pre-schoolers. Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life.