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Blog post was last updated with a few additional books on January 16, 2024.
When I began to think about how I wanted to teach my daughter about veganism, I knew that children’s books would be the perfect outlet. My daughter has always been drawn to books. Since a young age, she would sit in her reading nook and just flip through board books we got at the library. To this day, it’s something she still does, whether she pretends to read on her own or we sit together on the couch right before bedtime and read a few books.
Because of her love for books, I knew that this would be a great way to teach her about veganism.
However, through our search for vegan children’s books, I learned that they are very limited and not all are created equal. More than anything else, there’s a huge lack of children’s books that actually teach what veganism stands for: compassion for animals.
Some of the children’s books that talk about veganism don’t have the appropriate language, illustrations, or message for a young child’s development. Majority of them include diet culture language that label vegan food as “best” or “good food”, giving the impression to children that any food that other individuals consume are not okay. And personally, I feel that children should at least know that different individuals and cultures eat differently. And that this is OK.
Other vegan children’s books depict superheroes or other animal characters that “save the world” by encouraging others to go vegan. This not only puts a lot of responsibility on a child, putting themselves in those scenarios to make others go vegan, but also a false belief on dietary patterns and what happens around them in the world.
Children are concrete learners and are constantly absorbing everything from their surroundings. In other words, they take what they see to be true. Books serve as a way for them to understand concepts they experience in the real world and try to make sense of illustrations. This is partly why I prefer books for young children that use appropriate language and illustrate real-life scenarios rather than fantasies.
While I like to educate parents and caregivers about a child’s development and way of learning, I understand that everyone raises their children differently. And some may choose to offer books that speak to them, such as the books by Ruby Roth. While I appreciate Ruby as a vegan author, I’m going to be honest here and say that I am not fond of her books for a young reader. I believe the message in some of her books are too rigid for a child’s mind and the illustrations are just not appropriate for young children.
Below, I’m sharing some of my favorite books I’ve read with my daughter (the majority which we’ve found at our local library) and I’ve categorized them based on age group. Some of them don’t truly speak about veganism but they illustrate the value of compassion; about caring for and excluding animals from exploitation. I’ve also included a few chapter books that my daughter and I began to read when she was a preschooler. These are great for vegan teens, especially how even a young individual can make a positive impact for an animal’s rights and well-being.
Some of the books that I listed under the toddler age work for older school-aged children as well and some of the ones that are under the children age may work for toddlers. It just depends on your child’s developmental stage and what they can understand from the book. I have personally read all the ones under ‘children’ to my daughter, some of them which required a bit more explanation and some of them which didn’t as she either understood the concept or she just enjoyed the illustrations.
And if you’re interested in hearing my perspective on how to talk to kids about veganism, you can take a look at this blog post.
Children’s Books for Vegan Kids
Infants: 0 - 12 months
Baby Animals Black and White by Phyllis Limbacher Tildes
We were given this book by our pediatrician during one of the very first visits when my daughter was born. I didn’t quite understand why a book with black and white illustrations would be so beneficial for an infant but after doing some research, I learned that infants like high contrast images (i.e. black and white). Until about 2 -3 months of age, this is when infant can begin to differentiate color (1). One of the things I valued about this small book is that it depicted images of animals, such as horse, cat, dog, and cow to name a few. During tummy time, I would place this book about 6 - 10 inches away from my daughter’s face and turn the page after some time. It was her first encounter of being introduced to the world of animals.
Baby Botanist by Laura Gehl
This board book has simple language and illustrations which is perfect for a baby. While it is not specifically about animals or veganism, it introduces the concept of where and how plants grow. It’s a great first book to teach our young readers about where our food comes from and over time, talk about why we choose to eat plants as a family.
Wake Up! by Helen Frost
I love books that have real photos of animals and Helen Frost has several of these. Her books are primarily poems with beautiful photography of animals. I generally prefer board books for babies since their interest in grabbing pages may lead to ripping them but with a little supervision, this is a great way to nurture their love for animals. This is one of the books I’ve share on my Instagram stories.
Toddlers: 1 - 3 years old
Friends by Catherine Thimmesh
Children naturally have an affinity to animals and one of the things I really enjoyed about this book is how it depicts the beauty of friendships between different types of animals. It gives children insight into animals and how they can support each other and form friendships the same way they do with their school peers. It teaches children about compassion and kindness, values that they can carry with them as they explore interacting with others.
Plants Feed me by Lizzy Rockwell
When I first read this book with my daughter, I was a bit nervous about the language it would use but it turned out to be a fun educational book about how a wide variety of plants can be part of our diet, from leafy greens, root vegetables, and fruits. It’s a great way to teach young readers about where foods come from and the illustrations clearly label the parts of each plant. While not specifically about veganism, I found this book to be a great way to start a conversation with my daughter about why we chose to eat plant foods.
Baby Animals Eating by Suzi Eszterhas
We have been enjoying many of Suzi’s books because of the beautiful photography captured by many animals. This one in particular shows how and what other baby animals eat to grow strong and healthy. In a way, it helps young children find similarities in themselves about how to find nourishment. There’s one about koalas describing them as picky eaters since they only eat eucalyptus trees but in all honesty, I changed that sentence so that my daughter never feels ashamed for wanting to eat the same thing sometimes. It’s normal for all of us, including children, to want something familiar and eat one thing several times.
About Penguins: A Guide for Children by Cathryn Still
This book uses great imagery and simple language to illustrate the world of penguins, from diversity, to where they live, and even what they eat. If your toddler loves learning about animals just like my daughter does, the author has a whole series of books about other animals too.
A Bird is a Bird by Lizzy Rockwell
This book is great for toddlers as it teaches them about the unique qualities that make a bird: from having a beak, wings, and feathers to name a few. Young toddlers are able to learn the differences and similarities between other types of animals too.
Baby Animals with Their Families by Suzi Eszterhas
A Baby Elephant in the Wild by Caitlin O’Connell
Joey: A Baby Koala and His Mother by Nic Bishop
Children: 4+ years old
What is a Vegan? by Andrew Miele
This book was gifted to me and it’s the only book on the market that I know of that truly speaks about veganism in a children’s book. I appreciate that it depicts the true definition of veganism in the book—compassion for animals. It talks about how as a vegan we chose not use them for entertainment, clothing, or be part of our diet. I’m not fond of the illustrations since it’s too busy and very similar to a comic book, so it’s why I included it under this age group because it would be more appropriate for older children. But that’s just a personal preference. It is still one of the better vegan children’s books out there.
Not Opposites: Not Better, Not Worse, Just Different by Linda Ragsdale
I found this book fun and interesting to read with my daughter. At it’s core, the message it sends to young children is about kindness and acceptance. My daughter really enjoyed pointing to different body parts in herself that the book illustrates, so while it’s great for older children to understand the similarities and differences between species, it’s a great way to teach younger children too about what makes us unique.
50 Reasons to Love Animals by Catherine Barr
This has been a favorite book for my daughter lately. It depicts the habitats and other reasons to care for different animals. In my opinion, this is a great book that helps nurture a love for animals for children. In addition, the book points out about conservation and climate change, so if that’s a topic you’d like to discuss with your vegan children, this book can serve as a resource.
Animals Do, Too! How They Behave Just Like You by Etta Kaner
Many non-vegan individuals will argue that animals do not have feelings or share similar behaviors as humans do but this book for young readers does a great job at debunking that. It illustrates how certain behaviors children do, such as dance or play leap frog, are similar to that of some animals and how these actions serve a certain purpose for these animals. It may require a little bit of a conversation with your child based on understanding the concept and why I included it under this age group.
The Loneliest Elephant: Based on the True Story of Kaavan and His Rescue by Ralph Fletcher
Reading this true story about Kaavan, an elephant who grew up in captivity and experienced grief after the loss of an elephant friend, to my daughter, now 5 1/2 years old, brought a wave of emotions. It depicted how other animals have similar emotions as us humans and how the animal rights activist can make a greater impact to end suffering and exploitation to animals. I really loved this story!
Ninita’s Big World: The True Story of a Deaf Pygmy Marmoset by Sarah Glenn Marsh
This one is really sweet book based on the true story of Ninita—a deaf, orphaned pygmy marmoset—who was rescued by Rare Species Conservatory Foundation. It introduces the topic of wildlife conservation to kids and a great conversation starter about how all animals deserve to be cared for.
Jane Goodall by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara
Adolescence: 13+ years old
Orca in Open Water (Seaside Sanctuary) by Emma Carlson Berne
We began to read chapter books to my daughter at the age of 4 years old and this series of Seaside Sanctuary has been one of our favorites (there are four total in the series). However, this and other chapter books are great for older children and vegan teens.
The story is about two friends, Olivia and Elsa Roth, who try to advocate for a young orca named August to be sent to a marine sanctuary rather than an aquarium who wants the young orca for fertility. August got lost for its pod and now Olivia and Elsa want to do what’s best for the young orca.
My daughter really loved the series of Seaside Sanctuary! We’ve borrowed every one from the library and it’s a great way to continue nurturing a child’s or teen’s love for animals.Jasmine Green Rescues: A Piglet Called Truffle by Helen Peters
Jasmine is a girl who loves animals and has experience with caring for animals as her mom is a veterinarian. This book, illustrates how caring even a young individual can be toward animals. It’s a great book for anyone who loves helping animals. It’s one my daughter has enjoyed reading and realizing how she too can help care for animals. Jasmine Green Rescues is a series and has other books with the same concept but different story line with different animals.
References
Newborn Eyesight. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/Pages/Your-Baby's-Vision-1-Month.aspx