Books For Vegetarian Children Reinforcing A Compassionate Diet

In the words of Kermit the Frog “It’s not easy being green.” Being different can be difficult. And while being a vegetarian or vegan is more understood and accepted now than it has been, it can still be difficult – especially for children.

Children who do not understand the reasons for their different diet or who lack confidence may find themselves in awkward or uncomfortable situations from time to time. To raise funds at Gleannan’s (our six-year-old daughter) school, there are designated days when children can buy pizza, hot dogs and ice cream bars. These days occur regularly – often on a weekly basis. Fortunately, Gleannan understands why we live a vegan lifestyle as we’ve had lots of talks with her about it. She is comfortable, supportive and enthusiastic with our choice.

Initially, when these fund raising days took place we would send Gleannan to school with a vegan treat that she could eat in place of the pizza, hot dog or ice cream bar as we didn’t want her to feel left out. However, now we often don’t send any special treat on these days and Gleannan doesn’t mind. We have carefully explained to her why we don’t eat animals or products that come from animals and she not only understands this, she is in agreement with it!

Education results in a greater understanding which, in turn, can bring about increased confidence. There are several good books that can help vegetarian children feel comfortable with, and proud of, their compassionate diet.

Books for Young Children
Cows Are Vegetarians! a book for vegetarian kids by Ann Bradley is an excellent book that informs children about being vegetarian and vegan and how these caring lifestyles can help the Earth. Bradley provides important information in an easy-to-understand manner. She also emphasizes that vegetarian children are special and that they should feel good about being vegetarian – even if it means being different.

“ Whenever people do things that are different (such as not eating meat, chicken, or fish) other people sometimes give them a hard time. Has that happened to you? It’s happened to me, although it happens less and less as people become more aware. Please remember this: You have a right to your choice, as they do to theirs. And our choice, to be a vegetarian, is kind to the earth, to our bodies, and to the animals. It’s a wonderful choice and you have every right to be proud and happy. It’s a powerful choice because it can effect change. In fact, it just might save the earth.”

Two informative books that are appropriate for young children (3-7) are Victor, The Vegetarian: Saving the Little Lambs and Victor’s Picnic With the Vegetarian Animals. Written by Radha Vignola, these books describe Victor, a young boy and how he decides to become a vegetarian because he doesn’t want to hurt animals. In Victor, The Vegetarian: Saving the Little Lambs, Victor sets out to save the two lambs, Marigold and Buttercup, on his parents’ farm after he overhears his father talk about killing the lambs so they can have lamb chops. Victor and the lambs go into the woods where they become lost. When they are found, Victor’s parents decide not to kill the lambs. Not only are the lambs saved, but Victor realizes that he doesn’t want to eat any other animals either.
“’What about all the meat we eat?’ he asked his parents. I’d love all those animals if I knew them. I don’t want to eat cows or pigs or chickens either!’”

For children who haven’t thought much of where some foods come from, this book educates them that people who aren’t vegetarians eat animals like cows, lambs and pigs. Victor’s saving the lambs, his realization that the food he has been eating had feelings and personalities not unlike his own and his resulting turn to vegetarianism is effectively presented by Vignola.

In Victor’s Picnic With the Vegetarian Animals, Vignola provides information on such things as some of the differences between carnivores and vegetarians and the types of food that vegetarians eat.

Victor learns this important information when he has a dream where he attends a picnic with vegetarian animals and shares their food.

Victor, The Vegetarian: Saving the Little Lambs and Victor’s Picnic With the Vegetarian Animals are excellent books for young children. They educate children that some animals are killed for food and provide a basic understanding of what a vegetarian is and the foods that human vegetarians eat.

Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon is a fun book for children. In this story the knights of Castle Dark decide to capture and kill the dragons of the forest of Nogard who have been eating the people of the castle.

Herb, the only dragon who is not a meat eater, is captured by the knights. While Herb awaits his execution he is visited by the leader of the dragons and told that the dragons will rescue him if he eats a piece of meat. Herb declines the offer.

Fortunately for Herb and the other dragons and people, he is rescued by a little girl who has watched him tend to his vegetable garden. Herb, in turn, brings peace to the forest of Nogard.

Written by Jules Bass, this book contains important messages including the importance of sticking to your principles and being kind to, and tolerant of, others who have different beliefs.

Children who like Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon may want to try their cooking skills with the book Cooking With Herb the Vegetarian Dragon: A Cookbook for Kids. In this book, Herb shares his fun, vegetarian recipes that children and their parents will enjoy making. Children will not only have fun and gain a sense of accomplishment making the recipes, but they will also learn about nutritious food.

Holiday Books For Young Children
“Holiday books” which deal with animal issues and vegetarianism can be very useful in introducing children to certain harsh realities or reinforcing their diet and lifestyle choices. ‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving is a fun story told in a style similar to ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. In this story, eight children on a school field trip rescue eight turkeys just before they are going to be killed by Farmer Mack Nuggett for Thanksgiving dinners.

A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting is another Thanksgiving story that vegetarian children will enjoy. In this book Mrs. Moose is preparing a Thanksgiving dinner for her and Mr. Moose’s animal friends. This Thanksgiving she has decided that she wants a turkey for dinner so Mr. Moose and his friends set off to find one.

Eventually a turkey is found by the river and brought back for Thanksgiving dinner. The terrified turkey is delighted, and relieved, to learn that he isn’t the main course, but a guest at this vegetarian feast! This delightful book evokes the true spirit of Thanksgiving.

Books For Older Vegetarian Children
Books which deal with vegetarianism for older children are also available. Saving Emily by Nicholas Read is a wonderful novel for children aged 9 and up. In telling the stories of Emily, a heifer, Chris, a 12-year-old boy and Gina, his friend, Read not only provides an interesting and enjoyable story, he also effectively informs the reader about the cruel existence that cows and bulls must endure until they are killed.

While Saving Emily is an interesting story and provides valuable insight into the business of growing and killing animals for food, it also deals with the common childhood problem of being different and fitting in. Chris and his mother have moved from the city to the country and Chris has to go to a new school and make new friends. One of his friends, Gina, stands out from the other children at this school because she is a vegetarian and helps out at the Rescue Ranch where dogs, horses and cows who have been saved are cared for. Her love for, and attitude towards, animals doesn’t sit well with the other students in the ranching community. Children who are vegetarians will relate to and enjoy this touching story. Virtually everyone who reads this book will have their eyes opened to the suffering and cruelty that occurs to cows, bulls and other animals from the time that they are born until they are killed.

Getting teenagers to eat healthy meals isn’t always easy and vegetarian teens are no exception. Vegetarian teenagers and parents who want nutritious recipes for their vegetarian children will be delighted with Munchie Madness: Vegetarian Meals for Teens.

Munchie Madness contains numerous tasty recipes that are easily prepared. Most of the recipes are vegan and each lists the number of servings that the recipe makes as well as the calories, protein, fat and carbohydrates for each serving.

Laura Holzapfel offers an insightful message at the beginning of the book in “Notes from a Vegetarian Teen” and Suzanne Havala, who is a vegetarian, author and consultant on food and nutrition, provides important information for teenagers (and their parents) in “Vegetarian Nutrition: A Primer for Teens.” Havala effectively covers such topics as protein, calcium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B12 and fats – to name a few.

Another informative recipe book for teenagers is The Teen’s Vegetarian Cookbook by Judy Krizmanic. Besides offering a variety of recipes in sections typically found in most vegetarian recipe books, Krizmanic also includes useful chapters on “Easy Pasta Dishes” and “College Cuisine” which will appeal to not only vegetarian teenagers, but also those whose teenage years are behind them. “The How-To-Get-Your-Nutrients Substitution Chart” and calcium and iron sources listed at the beginning of the book are informative and helpful.

Sometimes reading the wise and inspirational thoughts of others who hold similar beliefs can be both comforting and insightful. Vegetarian Food for Thought: Quotations & Inspirations contains numerous quotations about vegetarianism including the following:
“You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson (page 55)

Another good book of quotations that vegetarians can use is Souls Like Ourselves: Inspired Thoughts for Personal and Planetary Advancement. While vegetarians will likely enjoy the whole book, the sections on “Animal Consumption and Vegetarianism” and “Farm Animals and Factory Farming” will be of particular interest.

Support, Encouragement, Education
Until people learn how special it is to be honest to your beliefs and that each living thing is unique and wonderful, being different can be uncomfortable and stressful. This is especially true of young children who want to fit in and be like others. To help vegetarian (and vegan) children understand their compassionate diet, it is important to educate them about vegetarianism and why this way of life was chosen. For those children who chose to be vegetarian, it is important to be supportive of this decision. The books listed below can be very helpful in teaching children about what it means to be vegetarian, benefits that result from embracing this life-giving diet and how to eat healthy. The stories contain important messages and information. Educating others is important too so you might want to donate a vegetarian book or two to your child’s school library or give them to your child’s teacher so he/she can include them in his/her curriculum. As Albert Schweitzer pointed out, “Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.” (page 108, Vegetarian Food for Thought: Quotations & Inspirations)

Recommended Reading
Cows Are Vegetarians! a book for vegetarian kids
By Ann Bradley  Illustrated by Elise Huffman
Healthways Press  1992, 1998
ISBN: 0963089307
(Ages 4-8)

Victor, The Vegetarian: Saving the Little Lambs
By Radha Vignola  Illustrated by Julia Bauer
AVIVA!  1994
ISBN: 0964039427
(Ages 3-7)

Victor’s Picnic With the Vegetarian Animals
By Radha Vignola  Illustrated by Michelle N. Ary
AVIVA!  1996
ISBN: 0964039478
(Ages 3-7)

Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon
By Jules Bass  Illustrated by Debbie Harter
Barefoot Books, Inc.  1999
ISBN: 1902283368
(Ages 4-8)

Cooking With Herb The Vegetarian Dragon: A Cookbook for Kids
By Jules Bass  Illustrated by Debbie Harter
Barefoot Books, Inc.  1999
ISBN: 184148041X
(Ages 4-8, although the recipes are good for all ages)

‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving
Story and Illustrations by Dav Pilkey
Orchard Books  1990
ISBN: 0531059057
(Ages 2-6)

A Turkey for Thanksgiving
By Eve Bunting  Illustrated by Diane de Groat
Clarion Books  1991
ISBN: 0899197930
(Ages 4-8)

Saving Emily
By Nicholas Read  Illustrated by Ellen Klem
Prometheus Books  2001
ISBN: 1573928976
(Ages 9 and up)

Munchie Madness: Vegetarian Meals for Teens
By Dorothy R. Bates, Bobbie Hinman, Robert Oser
Book Publishing Company  2001
ISBN: 157067115X

The Teen’s Vegetarian Cookbook
By Judy Krizmanic
Puffin Books  1999
ISBN: 0140385061

Vegetarian Food for Thought: Quotations & Inspirations
Edited by Gail Davis
NewSage Press  1999
ISBN: 093916535X

Souls Like Ourselves: Inspired Thoughts for Personal and Planetary Advancement
Edited by Andrea Gillan Wiebers and David O. Wiebers
Sojourn Press  2000
ISBN: 0967097908