AnimalTales: Building empathy through literature

The overarching goal of the Alberta SPCA's AnimalTales book program is to foster empathy and compassion for all living things.  AnimalTales meets a variety of Alberta Education cross-curricular objectives, K-6, through the use of quality picture books and related classroom materials. Topics include caring for people, animals and the environment, as well as responsible pet ownership and the human-animal bond. Through literature, sharing, discussion and guided reflection, the materials foster empathy and impact perceptions in positive ways.

A formal program evaluation was conducted to examine teacher use and student impacts through use of the program. In this session, we will introduce AnimalTales and the books, examine the results of the research, and discuss how teachers can incorporate humane literature into their classrooms.