Review By HOMA WOODRUM

Lavishly illustrated, All Kinds of Kisses by Caldecott Medalist Nancy Tafuri is a big and bright book that follows animal parents kissing their babies. The unifying narrative that is noteworthy for veg parents, however, is that the animals featured are all connected by living on the same farm, ending with the human mother in the farmhouse kissing her baby.

Before writing reviews for Vegbooks, I never considered that images and stories that depict life on a farm as idyllic, with chickens scratching around out of doors, a farmer lovingly hand feeding sheep apples, and pigs playing in a pool of water, is a form of propoganda. A strong word, I know, but the classic image of the American subsistence farmer is heavily marketed to children with books, toys, and songs. At any rate, I still think this book is beautiful, the illustrations really take advantage of the large size of the book and even have visual goodies like a different bug hiding on each page. The animal baby and parent theme is common enough that veg parents can decide whether to check this one out (Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too? comes to mind as an alternative) but I think we’ll be keeping this review copy on our shelves.

Ages 1-4.

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Review By CAROLYN M. MULLIN

If Deformed Frogs sounded pretty bad, get ready for Onion Juice, Poop, and Other Surprising Sources of Alternative Energy. Repugnant as it may be, these energy sources reel kids into learning about our global reliance on soon-to-be-dried-up fossil fuels and the numerous alternatives that are either on the market or currently under development. Staunch vegetarians will likely be appalled by the first two “solutions”: fecal matter from factory-farmed cattle and pigs. Their excretions are collected in “digesters” or large holding tanks (similar to the manure lagoons we may be more familiar with), where the temperature is raised high enough so that bacteria can eat their fill and, in turn, produce methane gas.

The book clearly depicts factory sheds and pigs in barren pens. I suppose it’s a good thing they’re not perpetuating the red barn, grassy pasture myth. On the flipside, there is a large sidebar on how unstinky this whole process is, with the author stating that the smell disappears once converted to gas. But of course it’s going to be stinky! It’s concentrated poop! I don’t think any attempt at explaining away (read: the tanks are covered) or minimizing the impact of such an aroma will sit well with the communities that endure such odorous pollution on a daily basis.

Diatribe over. I was much happier and at ease with seeing human poop digesters utilized by families in India or in Vancouver’s waste treatment facilities. Other neat profiled solutions included using food scraps from onion farms and other locales, with the same break-down by bacteria in the farm animal scenario.

Diatribe not over. I forgot to mention that the text speaks of scientists who are looking to make biodiesel through a mixture of animal fat (?!$#@), pine tree oil and methanol and others who are harvesting the innards of termites to assess their success in turning plant cellulose into energy.

Really, this was a mixed bag of information and gut reactions for me. But in my humble opinion, it is good to be in the know of what’s in the works and where we’re heading. I would have loved to see more emphasis made on the self-sustaining solutions for energy, like that of the Indian home digesters, or even solar power.

Ages 9-12.

Review By

I’d seen “Babe” years ago, at a time when I was neither a child nor a parent, so it was fun to revisit the movie with my 4-year-old daughter. What I’d forgotten, or perhaps hadn’t noticed, about the 1995 live-action flick when I’d seen it the first time was that it has a certain darkness and wry humor that you don’t often see in kids movies. In fact, the voice-over, timelessness of the sets and costumes, and the very slight edginess reminded me of the more recent TV show “Pushing Daisies,” which was geared to an adult audience.

Vegetarian parents probably already know that “Babe” deals with the issue of meat, but I was delighted to learn that the film actually makes kids grapple with why people eat some animals but not others. As the animal characters’ explanations are not very satisfactory — the cat, for example, explains that the cow is for milking, the dogs are for tending sheep, cats are for being beautiful, and ducks and pigs are for eating — viewers must answer the question for themselves. And just so the vegetarians don’t get too smug in their answer that no animal is meant for eating, the film pushes a little further, sparing Babe from becoming Christmas dinner while sacrificing a previously unseen duck instead. Watching Ferdinand the duck mourn over the loss of his friend, makes you feel just a little guilty that you felt a pang of relief when you saw duck, rather than pig, was for dinner.

This is the kind of movie that the entire family can enjoy together, and vegetarians in particular will be delighted by all the great lines in this movie. (“Pork, they call it – or bacon. They only call them pigs when they’re alive.”) Even if you’ve seen it before, the writing, the scenery, and the thematic elements make this a film worth revisiting.

Rated G. Captivating for kids as little as ages 4 and 5 with a little adult explanation.

Review By JACQUELINE BODNAR

The reality that most vegetarian parents face when it comes to the way cows are treated is that the vast majority of these animals don’t have it good, to put it mildly. Pumped full of growth hormone and antibiotics, and then hooked up to mechanical milking machines, they live a production-line life that leaves a lot to be desired. But you wouldn’t learn that by reading Cow to your children.

This book focuses on dairy cows on a traditional dairy farm, the kind that no longer exists on a large scale today. The book starts out by asking the question, “What is it like to be a dairy cow?” The answers it provides to that question focus only on the fading image of a traditional farm, filled with loving providers and an idyllic setting.

From grazing the days away, to happy farmers who “gently” clean the udders before milking the cows, the entire book paints a picture that life as a dairy cow is serene and enjoyable. Unfortunately, parents who care about animal rights know this to not be true, and will likely want to steer their child clear of this misleading fairytale image.

Geared to ages 4-8, but not recommended.

Review By JENNIFER GANNETT

When mean, crusty farmers become fed up with Mr. Fox’s pilfering of their poultry, they decide to eradicate Mr. Fox and his family. They declare a full-on war against Mr. Fox and declare their intentions to stop at nothing to achieve their goal of annihilating the Fox family. This includes stakeouts with guns and vivid depictions of construction machinery ruthlessly gorging the ground in an attempt to rout out the foxes.

It is soon apparent that the farmers’ wrath doesn’t only impact the foxes– other woodland creatures are caught in the fray. With the titular character described as fantastic, you know that a resolution will manifest, and charismatic Mr. Fox does not disappoint. He creates a carnivorous feast for the hungry and upset animals caught in the fallout, with some carrots for the rabbits thrown in as well. The question of why rabbits are dining with so many hungry carnivores remains a fairly open one.

Mr. Fox is affable, and many non-veg children and families have no hesitation aligning themselves with this witty father. He does, however, steal and eat an awful lot of birds for his family, making the story line a much tougher sell for veg families. The life of the farmed birds is, as in our current cultural structure, not given much weight.

Parents will also want to note that there is a lot of violence, extreme disrespect for other living beings and the earth, discussion of drinking and starvation, and some less than ideal role modeling. To my way of thinking, if this book is being read by a young veg family member, it is worth the time for an adult to go over some of the themes and discuss the young readers’ reactions with them.

This book is for older kids, ages 8 and up.

Review By CAROLYN M. MULLIN

Poor, poor Farmer Duck! He irons. He gardens. He even does the dishes. Duck has been picking up the “real” farmer’s slack while the sloth lies in bed, munching on chocolates. Bleary eyed and exhausted from all his (or her… gender really isn’t used for the animals) multitasking, Farmer Duck elicits the empathy of his friends on the farm who plot a coup (a tad Orwellian here) under the light of the moon.

Come morning, both farmers are in for a big surprise as the animals jolt the human farmer out of bed and run him off the property, never to be seen again. None the wiser, Farmer Duck awakes and calls out, “How goes the work?” and instead of a simple answer, receives a “Moo!,” “Baa!,” and “Cluck!” from the barnyard gang, explaining all that had transpired. The tale ends with a picturesque look at the animals working on their farm.

Farmer Duck’s not just a classic because of its animal liberation theme. It sends a strong message to kids about subscribing to a hard work ethic and what it means to be a true comrade … and sometimes that requires staging an uprising to help a fellow feathered friend.

Ages 3-8.