As we are raising MissB and MasterB as vegetarians, I’m always interested in vegetarian books which are aimed at children and I thought I’d share a couple that I currently have in my library. There are more out there that I plan on ordering at some point and will share with you over time but these are the two that I have so far :)

Herb The Vegetarian Dragon – Jules Bass and Debbie Harter

“In a faraway forest live Meathook and his band of carnivorous dragons who love feasting on tasty princesses. There is one dragon who is different… Herb is a peace loving vegetarian who is prepared to stand up for what he believes in!”

What I like about this book, aside from the lovely illustrations, is that it doesn’t preach that every vegetarian is good and every carnivore is bad, it even says in the book “I give you a choice, I will not ask you to change your eating habits. It is your rightful choice to eat what you will”. MissB is probably a little young to understand it now but I’m hoping that in a year or so she will understand that she is like Herb the friendly vegetarian dragon and that being vegetarian is nice. I also want her to understand that people aren’t bad because they eat meat, it is their choice :) It is basically a book about accepting other peoples lifestyles and being open to change.

 

That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals – Ruby Roth

Now I personally find this book a bit hardcore. I certainly think MissB is too young to read it yet. It basically seems to focus on factory farms and describes what life if like for animals on these farms compared to how it should be for instance…

“Crammed into cages on factory farms,
chickens have no room to live. There’s no land
to explore, no dust to bathe in, no dirt to peck,
poke, or scratch. There’s barely space to
spread their wings.”

I’m very much against factory farming and yes I’m vegetarian but I personally think this book is a bit too militant. It doesn’t take into account the move towards organic and free range farming and that not all animals farmed for meat are kept in these conditions. I want MissB to know the truth about these things, not propaganda as I want her to be able to make informed choices when she older. But yes it’s a book I’ll keep in my collection and one day I’ll read it with her and explain to her about factory farming but I want her to also understand that it’s not always as bad as this book makes it sound :)