“Encouraging our girls to grow up with empathy and compassion for other people is probably one of our most important priorities as a family,” says Sadie Mackie, who shares her life and reading adventures with daughters Gracie, five, and Margot, four, on Instagram (@raisingsmallreaders). “We live in Somerset and I’m very aware that it can be quite insular here. We want them to experience media that reflects different experiences, family types, sexualities and ethnicities. It’s really important they have an understanding of what other people experience,” she says.
Mackie’s desire to nurture compassion and humanity in the next generation is something that all subscribers to Save the Children’s Wonderbooks seem to share. Aimed at children aged from four to 10 years old, these books tell stories inspired by real girls and boys from all over the world overcoming different types of hardship. “These books truly awaken a sense of empathy in children,” says photographer and activist Misan Harriman, who last year visited Somaliland as a Save the Children ambassador, and met some of the 2 million children who are currently facing severe acute malnutrition in east Africa.
