The Boy & The Giant

Byagmpinilla
This blog post is all about the picture book that teaches about empathy.

Welcome to my Picture Book Rec! I am bringing you some of my favorite picture books each week and I am honestly very excited. This week we are working on teaching empathy to kids. Students sometimes need some assistance with empathy and how to correctly display their emotions.

Teaching empathy to students is incredibly important. Do it right by using strong picture books.
Using the book The Boy & The Giant to teach about being empathetic

Teaching Empathy To Kids

During this post, I am bringing you another fantastic picture book. This one is called The Boy And The Giant.

When I read this book I got misty eyes- I wouldn’t say full blown tears, but it made me go “Aweeee”. I looked at my husband and hugged the book. The book helped me recognize that it’s important for us to be empathetic to people that we don’t know.

The Boy & The Giant Picture Book Teaching Empathy to Kids
The Boy & The Giant Picture Book Teaches Empathy to Kids

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I use this page to direct students to a problem and how the boy will solve it.

How can the boy solve his problem?
How can the boy solve his problem?

Have the students recognize how the giant has been around the boy and his grandad the entire time. The students will connect with the boy by recognizing how the giant was near him and how he would feel knowing the giant is always hovering near by.

The boy is wondering where the giant is and what he's doing.
The boy is wondering where the giant is and what he’s doing.
The boy is wondering where the giant is and what he's doing.
The boy is wondering where the giant is and what he’s doing.
The boy is wondering where the giant is and what he's doing.
The boy is wondering where the giant is and what he’s doing.

Do you notice how this is where the boy is starting to relate to us more and more? We recognize that there is a fear of the giant and what he could bring with him. This fear of the unknown is something that even our own students struggle with. We can assist them by asking them how they feel about the topic, what they think will happen in regards to the topic, and what we can do about the topic.

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This is where the story really takes off.
The meat of the story starts here!

No Spoilers here!

Don’t worry- there are no spoilers here! It’s the best part of the story (or the turning point) in the story. I love what happens in this secret moment, it really makes you gasp.

I recognize the importance of the moment and how it changed the book and my students views.

Allow your students to feel all the emotions during this moment.

Let them work through how it would feel if you were him. Let them work through what it would feel like if you were experiencing this.

The boy is recognizing the errors of his ways and will try to make things better.
The boy is recognizing the errors of his ways and will try to make things better.
I love the ending of the boy and the giant.
The Boy & The Giant has such a sweet ending.

Well- what you can’t see on the next page is how the giant will feel. Not only that… I conveniently (or sneakily) placed a sticky note over the picture. There had to be a little surprise left. I love how the book ends. The book ends up giving you one word that helps guide you as the reader to just the most heart-warming moment in the book. The book will allow you to show kids how to be empathetic in the classroom and everyday life.

If you want to purchase this amazing book- use the link here! This is an affiliate link. That means that if you purchase it- I may make a little money from it.

Check out this blog post that I wrote about the book Somebody loves you, Mr. Hatch.

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