Author Greg Soros on Building Empathy Through Children’s Books
Empathy, according to children’s author Greg Soros, is something a story can teach long before a child is old enough to put the word to it. That belief sits at the center of what Soros calls the window side of his writing, the half of his philosophy built around showing young readers lives that look nothing like their own.
“Children’s books should open their minds to different perspectives and experiences,” Soros says. He describes these windows as small, early invitations into unfamiliar territory, moments where a story hands a child a glimpse of someone else’s world instead of only reflecting their own. In a recent feature by Walker Magazine, he framed the debate over representation in children’s literature as central to how children learn empathy, form self-esteem, and navigate a plural society.
Stepping Into Someone Else’s Story
Soros is specific about what he means by unfamiliar. “When a child reads about someone from a different culture, someone with different abilities, or someone facing challenges they’ve never encountered, it expands their understanding of what it means to be human,” he explains. For Soros, that expansion isn’t a side effect of good storytelling. It’s the point.
He argues that compassion and cultural awareness aren’t traits children simply arrive with. They’re built, gradually, out of small exposures to people and situations outside a child’s own household or classroom. A picture book, read at bedtime or in a library corner, can be one of the first places that exposure happens.
Soros brings his background in child development and educational psychology to bear on how these windows get built, working to make sure an unfamiliar story still feels honest rather than instructional. He’s wary of lessons that arrive too neatly wrapped, preferring characters whose experiences simply unfold and let a young reader draw their own conclusions.
Through his ongoing writing and community work, author Greg Soros keeps returning to the same conviction, that a child who learns to see through someone else’s eyes early on carries that habit with them well past the last page of any single book. It’s a small thing to ask of a picture book, and a lasting one. Refer to this article for related information.
Follow for more about Greg Soros on https://www.instagram.com/georgesorosfx_/?hl=en