“Don’t leave that table until you eat those Brussels sprouts!” It’s amazing how your mother can throw her voice into your kitchen, isn’t it?
While you might have vowed never to sound like your mother or father, it inevitably happens when you become a parent yourself – and it often that happens at the kitchen or dining room table! Like it or not, vegan or not, sometimes it’s challenging to convince your children to eat their veggies. Fortunately, there is a growing children’s book market that can help.
For parents who want to teach their children about what they’re eating (or not eating), and where it comes from, there are some adorable vegan and vegetarian books that will get you off on the right foot. That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals, A Book About Vegetarians, Vegans, and All Living Things by Ruby Roth is a new children’s book that features gorgeous artwork, and helps to gently teach young ones about the reasoning behind a vegan diet.
If you’re looking to educate your child on a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle in an age appropriate way, also check out Cows Are Vegetarians, A Book for Vegetarian Kids by Ann Bradley or Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon by Jules Brass. For older kids, a teen cookbook might be a good idea – or something along the lines of Vegetables Rock: A complete guide for the teenage vegetarian. For an extensive list of books compiled for vegetarian/vegan children and their parents, click here. These types of books are helping to bring veganism and vegetarianism more into the mainstream.
Even if you’re not a vegan or vegetarian parent, you can use veg-friendly books to encourage your children to eat more fruits and vegetables, and it can give you a better sense of the ideology behind the lifestyle. Kathy Patalsky’s The Lunchbox Bunch collection includes Lunchbox Alphabet, The Wiggle Jiggle Book and On the Case: Super Senses, and they are full of fun, fruity, fiber-rich characters.
Check out more vegan news stories for this week:
- Tofurkey Pizzas: Easy After School Snack
- Veggie Burgers in St. James
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies in NYC
- Vegan Shredded Cheese in Canada
