Beyond the Book.
Karen and Taelor Ellenbecker co-authored My Pillows has Wings, but the joint effort doesn’t end there. Their dynamic synergy and endless energy have already created more ways to get their message out.
In fact, the book has been transformed into the Empathy Program which helps schools augment social-emotional learning (SEL). Empathy — the ability to understand your own feelings and those of others — is a fundamental component of social-emotional learning which, in turn, empowers students with life-long skills for cultivating healthy relationships, better communication and collaboration.
The Empathy Program is turnkey. It includes the book, My Pillows Has Wings; a companion lesson planner called Ten Lessons to Understanding Big Feelings; and an art activation project — upon completing all 10 lessons, the students get to create their own version of the “cloud pillowcase” inspired by what they learned. At the end of the entire program, students, parents, teachers and counselors gather for a celebration dinner and to share their experiences.