This month we are wild about pandas and empathy.

• Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
• Empathy is about standing in someone else’s shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes.
• Empathy makes the world a better place.

Zen is a Japanese word that means meditation. “Zen shorts” are short meditations—ideas to puzzle over. Jon J Muth’s picture book, Zen Shorts, tells stories about people who feel and act in different ways than most of us do. The main character, a giant panda named Stillwater, teaches us to apply these valuable lessons from the story to our own lives. Be empathetic by listening to others, connecting with others and being altruistic by bringing in socks for Socktober.

Let’s practice empathy this month and learn more about pandas.

Check out the San Diego Zoo Kids website. It provides a fun and informative view of the pandas in the zoo through webcams, photographs, and videos.