I Am Human & Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara

Featured Book:  I Am Human: A Book of Empathy, written by Susan Verde and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
Featured Artwork: Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara c. 1500

I Am Human: A Book of Empathy by Susan Verde and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds explores what it means to be human and encourages us to make choices through compassion and empathy. Being human means that we are connected to others and that we can live each day filled with hope and possibility.

Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara is the bodhisattva of compassion. It is said that his head split into ten fragments when he learned of the suffering of the world. In his eleven-headed form, he contemplates the many ways to help others. Here, we see a pyramidal arrangement of nine heads that are calm and one head that is a wrathful protector. The eleventh head represents his spiritual father the Buddha Amithaba.

Empathy is the act of understanding the feelings, thoughts and experiences of another person. Inspired by I Am Human and Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, find or make a calendar with notes on how you can express empathy and compassion to yourself and others each day. You can include things like taking the time to do your favorite activity or listening when a friend or loved one needs someone to talk to. As you move through each week in your calendar, notice how your acts of kindness affect yourself and those around you.

If you don’t have access to the featured book, select something similar from your child’s book shelf or your local library. Many of the books are also available as read-aloud videos online.