4 Books to Help Teach Children about Veganism & Healthy Eating

English: “V” icon as as symbol for vegetarianism/veganism. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 4 Books to Help Teach Children about Veganism & Healthy Eating

Earlier this week author and vegan mother Ruby Roth released Vegan is Love, her follow up children’s book to That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals, written to teach children ages 7 and up about veganism and how to gain compassion for animals. While her first children’s book received much acclaim, her second children’s book sparked a lot of controversy; some parents and children experts (vegan included) say that Roth’s book is too graphic for a young audience since it includes drawings of dead animals and carcasses while emphasizing that all animals raised for their meat have “violent and sad” deaths. The graphic images come to a surprise too, especially since the cover illustration is somewhat misleading: it features an array of   “cutesy” farm and jungle animals.

 

While some don’t mind the images at all and think this is the only true way children can learn, including musician and vegan Jason Mraz who wrote a positive review for the book, if you’d like to introduce your child to veganism in a more subtle way, below are a few books that I think do the job quite well.

4. Cows are Vegetarians, Ann Bradley

Cows are Vegetarians is book designed to teach children what it means to be a vegetarian and how their choice to not eat meat or animal by-products affects their health, environment, and the people around them through the perspective of a cow. This book is intended for children ages 6 through 12.

 

3. My Mom Eats Tofu, Robyn Ringgold

This lovely book is about a daughter who is anxious to invite her friend over so she can share the unique lifestyle she shares with her mother—a life of vegan-eating, composting and shopping at the farmer’s market.  It’s also great at introducing young children to a list of vegan-friendly foods and spices. This book is intended for children ages 5 through 10.

 

2. The Great Turkey Race, Steve Metzger

While this book is a really fun and comical read around thanksgiving, the lesson behind this children’s book can really be shared all year long. It’s centered on some turkeys that get word that they’ll be cooked for that night’s dinner. So they run away. It shows that there are always alternatives to meat.

 

1. Benji Bean Sprout Doesn’t Eat Meat , Sarah Rudy

This book is designed to teach children how to deal with peers who may make fun of your child for his or her vegan and vegetarian eating habits. It follows young Benji who finally tells his parents he’d like to try a hamburger since he’s tired of being teased. His parents then take him to an animal sanctuary to reinforce why they live the lifestyle they do.  There’s a “neat” recipe included in the end.

Does anyone else have any other recommendations?

Author Bio:

This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at online college about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5 @ gmail.com.