The lesson is great, but the story is a bit wordy. Still, I like the examples and way it's told as an autistic person. The illustration/art reminds me of AI art, which I'm really NOT a fan of. If it's not AI art, it just has that style of super cartoon-y illustrations with big eyes. On the spread with the hug and the ice cream, the pigtails character is just kind of making this odd expression.

For all I know, it is just someone's illustrations, but it's attributed a bit weirdly ("art by" instead of "illustrations by"). It's likely such a minor detail that non-autistic people aren't going to notice. I just notice ish like this.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for accepting my request to read and review The Power of Empathy.

Author: Ruth Maille
Published: 10/20/22
Genre: Children's Nonfiction

Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. The object is to explain how to be the friend you want to be. This is a beautiful teaching.

The illustrations are good, representing the subject matter well.

There should be a warning that guidance is needed, preferably parental, when broaching this subject.

I would definitely gift to a babysitter for their aresenal, as well as new parents and grandparents.

Orbit goes to the park to tell a story to the kids their. They talk about empathy: what it is, what it looks like, and how it feels.
I think that there are some great examples in the book for kids to be able to understand what empathy is. The illustrations are beautiful and captivating to look at.
The majority of the book is dialogue, which is fine, however it's so stiff and scripted. There's no feeling of an actual natural conversation, it just feels like what one should say in this type of conversation.

I enjoyed the concepts in the book although the graphics threw me off a bit with the writing. I have a two year old who would enjoy the graphics, but she is too young to understand the writing and I believe with the age group able to understand the graphics may seem childish. Overall I love the idea of this book helping children to understand empathy and I also love that the characters were inclusive.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this wonderful ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Power of Empathy carries such a deep important message, for our children in simple language that they can understand.
In this book, a globe called Orbit teaches a group of kids that empathy is a superpower that helps them be the best friend they can possibly be.
personally I loved the examples that were given to explain what empathy is and how they are common everyday occurrences that would be familiar to a child.
I also adored how the book normalises all kinds of feelings, happy ones and sad ones and all in between.

I will be reading this with my 5 and 7 year old nephews to help them gain a greater understanding of this superpower!!

Make empathy one of your superpowers.


Orbit the globe is on another adventure showing children how to show empathy. It is important to understand your own emotions before you can help others with theirs. In a school like setting, with many different emotions, and children, you and your child can together discuss in a fun way about our emotions and what to do when emotions come rolling in. I found the story well thought out and the illustrations friendly and inviting. Highly recommend.

A special thank you to Books Go Social and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

I love that children are being taught the complex way we feel emotions. The Power of Empathy is a very cute, meaningful story about feeling empathy for others with good examples of times when someone can be empathetic towards someone else. The characters are diverse and the art style is fun and would entice a child to read this book.

Empathy is so important for children to learn and this book did a great job describing it. I also love how diverse the book was and it did a great job representing all different types of kids with all different abilities. I would purchase this for my children.

I just read The Power of Empathy and although I believe in the concept it was good, the format was not well executed. I feel like from the very first page with the Note from the Author to the very end of the book it was very preachy and repetitive. There really is no story element to it and from my years teaching and being a nanny I know that the story is what keeps the kids' attention. This book didn't have much in the way of substance it seemed like it would work as an educational video on empathy but it did not fit the format of a children's book in my opinion. I like the concept of the main character Orbit but I felt he was lacking in a sense of character development. He was just really used to propel the book along and promote dialogue with the children in the book. I feel like any one of the situations presented in the book could be used as a storyline for the characters to play out in a story form. This book was more non-fiction in its approach. I also think the story ran a bit too long for a traditional storybook and could use more editing. The illustrations were great though I was just expecting more from the original presentation of the book from the title and the cover Illustration.

Another sweet, beautifully written and illustrated book for young children, this time about empathy. It delivers, the book is clear and very humane. I have read other books by the author and she knows her audience and her kids. I'll say it again, it is a sweet book. My wife knows I like reading kids' books, and the reason I do is because the better ones are well written and the message and story is clear, which also makes it powerful. Empathy is a wonderful strength to teach our children. Teach them well.

The Power of Empathy carries such a deeply important message for our children in simple language that they can understand. In the book, a globe character called Orbit teaches a group of kids that empathy is a superpower that helps them be the best friend they can possibly be. I loved the examples that were given to explain what empathy is and how they are common everyday occurrences that would be familiar to a child. I also adored how the book normalizes all kinds of feelings, happy ones and sad ones included. I will be sharing this one with my 5 and 7 year olds to help them gain a greater understanding of this superpower!

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this wonderful ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.