Our Story

The story of ABCS of Empathy begins in a classroom in May of 2021.

When we started opening doors after COVID-19, there was an adjustment period for everyone. We had spent week after week cooped up in our homes, talking to screens. For the first time in months, I was teaching in person. It was a lot. Kids who usually thrived in my English and creative writing courses were struggling to get back to the old normal. To be honest, I could relate. 

But as difficult as things were, having a middle school band director for a husband helped me put things in perspective. He was privy to the same behavior I was, just much, much noisier. One night, we had a discussion about our shared concerns. Talking to someone who genuinely understood what I was going through helped me contend with the weight on my shoulders. Maybe, after so long in isolation, we needed a reminder about empathy. So over the next few nights, I wrote a book.

At first, I used ABCs of Empathy as a classroom tool. My students loved creating their own verses or bringing the words to life through their art. I peaked as an artist at age 10, so I found real joy in watching others interpret kindness and understanding through their own imaginations. ABCs has continued to leave its indelible mark in my classroom to this day. The experience reminded me of what storytelling can do. Stories aren't merely entertainment or flights of fancy; they are capable of healing and so much more.

In 2025, I realized empathy was popping up a lot more in my talks with friends and family. I decided to share ABCs of Empathy with them, and they gave me the courage to share it with the world. I reached out to Mauro Lirussi of Moon Cow Studios, who gave the book his trademark hand-painted illustrations full of color, heart, and emotion. Four years after its initial appearance in my fourth grade classroom in Artesia, California, ABCs of Empathy is available to read anywhere in the world.

Publishing ABCs, for me, was a small contribution to a larger conversation about how we treat each other. No matter how old we are, we all need to consider what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes. 

Sig Campbell-Williams