Every review published by Vegbooks from 2009 through 2021.
When I found out my daughter’s camp was taking a field trip to the National Zoo, a facility that still keeps elephants and uses free contact to handle them, I knew I had to take action. Happily, the wonderful parents…
Tags: ActivismAndy Ellisanimal rightsAnimal SufferingAnimal Welfare Books for KidsAnimals in CaptivityFemale ProtagonistPreschoolersZoo
In its May/June issue, The Horn Book (a leading journal about children’s literature) featured an article by vegetarian and children’s book author Jennifer Armstrong. Ms. Armstrong tackled the apparent inconsistency…
Tags: animal rightsFarmed AnimalsHealthy LivingMichael CrolandRaising Vegan KidsThe Horn Bookveganvegan kidsVegan ParentsVegetarianvegetarian kids
Nothing says summer like spending time at the beach. Lucky Jim Arnosky and his wife, Deanna, had the difficult task of visiting 26 different beaches along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts – for “research” purposes, of…
Tags: BeachCarolyn M. MullinEarly ElementaryEco-Friendly Kids BooksJim ArnoskyMarine AnimalsOceanPreschoolers
What happens when you take an arrogant jungle lion and put him in a circus? He finds that he much preferred life in the jungle, and he returns with a new, more refined attitude toward his animal neighbors. In Deep in…
Tags: Animal LiberationCircusCommunityDan YaccarinoEarly ElementaryJacqueline BodnarLionsPreschoolersRespect for Nature
Carl Hiaasen is probably best known for his beach-worthy page turners, which combine the environmental ethics of Edward Abbey with the fluff of a novel you might pick up in an airport bookstore. Happily for…
Tags: Carl HiaasenEco-Friendly Kids BooksEnvironmentEnvironmental Children's LiteratureFishFishingGreen Earth Book Award WinnerOlder ElementaryPollution
As someone who believes that at the very least animals deserve rights equal to, say, corporations, I’m disturbed that our legal system treats them as property. So when I read Mary Ann Hoberman’s Whose Garden Is It?,…
Tags: Early ElementaryEco-Friendly Kids BooksGardenGardeningIllustrationInsectsJane DyerMary Ann HobermanPreschoolersRabbitsUrban Wildlife
While in school, were you ever challenged by a language arts teacher to create a poem that fashioned the outline of a shape? Joyce Sidman and Michelle Berg have taken the concept of concrete poetry, also known as…
Tags: Carolyn M. MullinConcrete PoetryDogsEarly ElementaryEco-Friendly Kids BooksHenry Bergh Award WinnerPreschoolersPuppy
Anne Miranda’s brilliant spoof of Mother Goose’s not-so-vegetarian-friendly nursery rhyme “To Market, To Market” is full of humor and compassion, teaching kids that animals make better companions than they do food.…
Tags: ALA Notable Children's booksAnne MirandaBest Books for Vegetarian KidsFarmed AnimalsFemale ProtagonistGood for ToddlersHealthy LivingJanet StevensPreschoolersveganVegetarianVegetarian Kids Books
Why vegetables have a bad rap amongst the younger crowd, I haven’t the faintest idea. Even when the school cafeteria overcooked the broccoli, I enjoyed it. Maybe that’s because vegetables were a rarity in my Mexican…
Tags: Carolyn M. MullinEarly ElementaryGail GibbonsHealthy EatingHealthy LivingPreschoolersVegetable BooksVegetables
As a mom and a feminist, I’m not crazy that “The Little Mermaid” is premised on Ariel’s decision to leave her family and literally give up her voice for a man she’s only just met. I worry what this teaches our…
Tags: 1980s Childrens MoviesCrabsDisneyEarly ElementaryFemale ProtagonistFishFishingMermaids
Farm animals are nothing short of magnificent. Seemingly, they’re more esoteric than our household companion animals, but friendlier and more approachable than say wildlife from the African savannah. Perhaps that’s…
Tags: Carolyn M. MullinChickensCoffee Table BooksCowsEarly ElementaryFarmed AnimalsGoatsMaya GottfriedOlder ElementaryPigsPoetryPreschoolersTurkeys
If you are familiar with any of John Lithgow’s books, you may already know that they are usually a bit quirky. But that’s just what kids seem to love about them. He writes books that are fun and humorous, and that…
Tags: Animal CareBaby BookCompanion AnimalsDogsGood for ToddlersJacqueline BodnarPreschoolers
This beautifully illustrated book by Stephen Huneck follows Sally the black dog as she accidentally embarks on a hot air balloon adventure. It’s hard not to fall in love with Mr. Huneck’s technique, which he…
Tags: AdventureBraveryDepictions of Meat in BooksDogsEarly ElementaryFemale ProtagonistPreschoolersStephen Huneck
My kids immediately fell in love with this book, and it quickly became one of their favorites. The story, written by talented actor and author John Lithgow, takes you along on a fun journey of a pancake being made by…
Tags: Early ElementaryFoxesJacqueline BodnarJohn LithgowPancakesPreschoolers
Oil spills. Climate change. Polluted oceans, rivers, lakes, bays and watersheds. Environmental justice concerns. Drought. Famine. Collapse of global fisheries stocks. Factory farming. Sometimes it feels like despite…
Tags: Alex LinEco-Friendly Kids BooksErica FernandezHarriet RohmerJennifer GannettOlder ElementaryWill Allen
Silver Dolphin Books has published the equivalent of a coffee table book for the elementary crowd. The Wonders Inside: Bugs and Spiders is gigantic, glossy, and gorgeous. Featuring see-through plastic overlays and…
Tags: AnatomyButterfliesInsectsMetamorphosisNatural HistoryOlder ElementaryPredatorsScience BooksSpiderWildlifeWildlife Books for Kids
It’s hip. It’s fun. And it’s about my two favorite subjects: animals and history. While written as a Scholastic textbook, Animals in the House is unbelievably reader-friendly, filled with puns, jokes, and lively…
Tags: Carolyn M. MullinCatsCompanion AnimalsDogsHistoryOlder ElementaryReptiles
Despite the unfortunate zoo setting (all the animals therein shown with happy smiles, of course), And Tango Makes Three, which is based on a true story, serves as touching celebration of love and of the rich…
Tags: Animal CourtshipAnimal FamiliesControversial Kids BooksHenry Bergh Award WinnerMarsha RakestrawPenguinsWildlifeWildlife Books for KidsZoo
Elephants Swim by Linda Capus Riley and Steve Jenkins is a perfect theme for the summer heat. Lovely animals created from paper collage span most of the pages as single rhyming sentences describe each animal’s…
Tags: ArmadillosCatsEarly ElementaryElephantsHuyen MacMichaelIllustrationLinda Capus RileyMarine AnimalsPreschoolersSteve JenkinsSummer
In this book, A Chimpanzee Tale, by Karen Young, Hoot, a chimpanzee, explains how happy chimpanzees live in the wild and why chimpanzees shouldn’t ever be in a city, zoo, movie, show, or circus. Hoot gives a lot of…
Tags: Animal Rights Books for KidsAnimals in CaptivityChimpanzeesKaitlyn Aiyana EnsticeKaren YoungPrimatesReviews by KidsTim Enstice
Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo is a series of books about a young girl. In Free the Worms, she is at odds with the notion that she is a vegetarian and her teacher wants the class to gather worms to feed to the classroom…
Tags: Animal LiberationFemale ProtagonistJacqueline BodnarMeat-eatingNancy KrulikOlder ElementaryVegetarian CharactersVegetarian Protagonist
Fans of Patrick McDonnell’s Wag!will love The Gift of Nothing. Featuring the adorable characters from his comic strip Mutts, the plot of this story can be summed up in a ten-word riddle. Q: What do you give a friend…
Tags: CatsCompanion AnimalsConsumerismDogsEarly ElementaryEco-Friendly Kids BooksEnvironmentEnvironmental Children's LiteratureIllustrationMuttsPatrick McDonnellPreschoolers
Anyone who has been a vegetarian for at least a year has likely been exposed to the jokes and ridicule that come when other adults hear about the idea of a vegetarian Thanksgiving. Now, through In a Tizzy Over Turkey…
Tags: Adam BeechenBooks to AvoidJacqueline BodnarNegative Messages About VegetarianismThanksgivingTurkeys
Roadschooling (v.): a nomadic form of homeschooling. For the Wright Family, this educational path calls for a cross-country adventure – RV style – that will eventually span 50 chapter books, authored by Lisa M.…
Tags: Carolyn M. MullinHomeschoolingHumaneLisa M. Cottrell-BentleyOlder ElementaryTanja BauerleVegan Childrens Booksvegan kids