Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
You, Me and Empathy
Jayneen Sanders · 2017
72/100
👍 Worth It
This is one of the more thoughtfully constructed empathy picture books in the SEL space — the rhyming couplets work, the gender-neutral protagonist broadens the appeal, and the decision to treat bullies as kids who are often hurting themselves is genuinely nuanced for the format. Discussion questions and back-matter activities make it a real classroom tool rather than just a read-once book. The rhyming occasionally forces itself, and the bullying angle may be complex for the youngest readers, but the Foreword Reviews praise and educator adoption are well earned.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety82
Substance / usefulness72
Craft & writing74
Originality64
Evidence & accuracy83
Hype vs delivers75
Age-fit76
👁 Human-eye gut-check72
Penny’s verdict72
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