Review By JENNIFER GANNETT

Authored by humane educator extraordinaire Zoe Weil, Claude and Medea traces the compassionate awakening of two twelve year olds. Both students at a prestigious private school in Manhattan, Claude comes from a background of wealth and privilege while his classmate Medea’s background is working class. The two are not friends at the opening of the book, but when an unconventional substitute teacher arrives at their school, they both hear the depths of her messages of compassion and independent thinking  in a way that their classmates do not. Bonded by their willingness to discuss Mrs. Rattlebee’s teachings, the two embark on a scheme to find out why dogs in New York City are disappearing.

Marshaling the support of some of Medea’s friends and family, Claude and Medea quickly realize that they had not anticipated the seriousness of the situation. City dogs are being abducted and sold to Hellburn Research Institute, an animal testing facility across the Hudson River in New Jersey. The children concoct a risky rescue and extraction plan, which they successfully execute with the assistance of their cohorts. The compassionate kids rescue dogs (including ones with substances still in their system) and a rat. Not content to rest on their laurels, once the rescue is complete, they also send press releases and get several major media hits regarding the abduction of the dogs and the truth about what is happening at the research facility.

There is a lot to appreciate about this book. One of the protagonists is a long time vegetarian, and the other converts to vegetarianism shortly into the story. The messages imparted by the mysterious unique substitute teacher clearly resonate with the two students, and her impressions are lasting. Though Mrs. Rattlebee’s physical presence in their lives is transitory, the seeds of curiosity, compassion and mercy that she planted continue to blossom. The story moves along quickly with rich details about the situations and characters, and Claude and Medea are smart, savvy problem solvers. One quibble that veg folks may have is the portrayal of Mrs. Rattlebee’s demeanor and appearance, especially when she channels a fictional creature using her body as a vessel. Though her message is one we can all get behind, she embodies a stereotype that may not ring true to many children today, children who are growing up knowing some very mainstream veg*s — doctors, lawyers, teachers, artists, business owners, engineers etc. Vegans and vegetarians who do not identify as quirky counterculturalists may not appreciate this aspect of Mrs. Rattlebee’s character.

While I highly recommend this story for older kids from a humane education standpoint, I feel compelled to mention that much of the success of the Hellburn Dogs (and Rat) rescue comes about because Claude, Medea and their crew engage in mistruths ranging from small fibs to significant lies to their parents and other adults. Are the two using some harmless subterfuge to speak truth to power, or are they lying, scheming kids? Are the two mutually exclusive? Parents will need to figure out how they feel about this issue. Additionally, when I read this story, it struck me that the kids could potentially be held liable under the 2006 Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, which in part addresses animal research facilities. Not familiar with this piece of obscure legislation? Read more about it here. Claude and Medea ends with Hellburn Reseach Institute being shut down and Dr. Hellburn and his associates being arrested because of their actions. Would this happen in real life? I’m not sure but it is something for parents and other adults to contemplate.

Ages 10 and up.

Review By JENNIFER GANNETT

“Born to Be Wild” is an IMAX film focusing on the conservation efforts of two women working a world away from each other in different conditions but with aligned goals. Both have set up systems of caring for and ultimately releasing orphaned wild animals back into the wild. Daphne Sheldrick, who founded the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, maintains facilities in Kenya where young elephants who have lost their mothers to poachers are taken in, cared for and, years later, reintroduced to their native habitat. Birute Galdikas founded Orangutan Foundation International, which advocates and cares for orphaned orangutans in Indonesia as well as works to preserve their rapidly declining habitat.

Narrated by Morgan Freeman, “Born to Be Wild” contains amazing footage of the lush Borneo rainforests and the dry Kenyan terrain. While the narrative explains the conditions, history and current work of each organization, the generous shots of the young elephants and orangutans (and their caregivers) are heartwrenchingly adorable — so much so that it is almost possible to forget the two distinct yet equally disturbing reasons that create the need. At the same time, it is the lack of emphasis on the deforestation in Borneo and poaching in Kenya that makes this movie not just appropriate but enjoyable for younger kids. Instead, while the issues are mentioned, the film specifically focuses on the work of these two women and those in their employ, as well as the stated goal of returning the orphaned babies back to the wild.

There are a couple of points in the movie which may be uncomfortable — namely, the reenactment of the arrival of one of the orangutans at OFI’s Camp Leakey and the footage of a capture of a baby elephant who had been spotted with a group of bulls, a scenario in which the young elephant would have starved to death. Both seemed contrived to add an unnecessary sense of drama to the film, though I later learned that yes, the elephant rescue just happened to occur while the film crew was on location. These are small blips in this compelling movie. I recommend this film for kids 5 and up (though as with all IMAX features, the noise levels and large images can be overwhelming for sensitive folk of any age). The experience of watching this, especially for children who are being raised with a heightened awareness of human interaction with animals, may be a very profound one.

Some webisodes have been created around the film. Check them out to get a flavor for the movie. You can enjoy some of the information and adorability from the comfort of your own computer.

Review By JENNIFER GANNETT

Poor Hezekiah! This Bactrian camel gent spends his days in a British zoo, very lonely indeed. The hairy fellow spends much of his time talking to himself, or to his keepers, who do not understand a word he utters. This makes him ill tempered and unhappy. Eventually Hezekiah has a go at unlatching the gate to his enclosure, and, what do you know? He frees himself. Thus the story of Dick King-Smith’s Hairy Hezekiah begins.

Hezekiah wanders around the zoo, searching for a friend. None of the other species are suitable candidates, so he leaves the confines of the zoo and begins roaming the British countryside seeking companionship. He meets up with a group of cows, who suggest that he head to a nearby safari park since there are lots of unusual animals to be found there. At this point, on page thirty-three to be specific, I became disillusioned with the story. After all of the tribulations he’d overcome to achieve freedom from the miserable zoo, Hezekiah was just going to amble willingly back into captivity? Sigh.

Hezekiah heeds the cows’ advice, heading to the safari park, run by an eccentric, wealthy, titled white man. The Earl of Basin has always wanted a camel to add to his collection and is elated when one shows up. A hirsute individual himself, he immediately takes a special shine to Hezekiah. The camel finds himself comfortable at Lord Basin’s safari park, where he quickly befriends many of the animals. Lord Basin decides Hezekiah needs a mate and arranges for a female camel to be shipped from a zoo in the United States. Without bothering to ask the transferring zoo what her name is, Lord Basin christens the female Hephzibah when she arrives. The two camels kiss upon introduction, clearly destined to live happily ever after.

Though Hezekiah himself is portrayed as having a happy ending, the overarching messages in this book are disturbing and disheartening to animal advocates. Since zoos and safari parks exploit animals and are very much profit driven enterprises, it is disappointing to see their glorification play such prominent roles in this book’s storyline. In fact, Lord Basin displays complete disregard for the importance of established family group dynamics when he trades a young gorilla for Hephzibah. He also casually trades a white tiger to the zoo from which Hezekiah escaped. The takeaway from Lord Basin’s behavior is that what is important is whatever Lord Basin desires. The message that the individual facilities’ desires trump any sense of concern for the animals’ well-being is very outdated but is presented without balance.

I recommend this book for older kids as an illustration of how things should not be — it works as a place to open a conversation with children about the role of captive exotics in our society. If you are interested in having a discussion about these issues, Hairy Hezekiah provides numerous instances of animal exploitation and woeful inadequacies of captive life for exotic animals in a fairly non-threatening manner.

Ages 5 and up.

Not to engage in hyperbole, but the first thing a pregnant vegan should do after getting that plus sign on a stick is dash out and purchase the Vegan Pregnancy Survival Guide. Authored by Bonzai Aphrodite’s Sayward Rebhal and published by the fine folks at Herbivore Clothing (who provided me with a review copy), this guide serves up the ultimate in vegan girlfriendish guidance, especially if your girlfriends tend to be intelligent, funny, thoughtful, curious and thorough. Sayward Rebhal is all of these things, and these attributes, combined with her firmly friendly writing style, mesh very well in this pocket guide to vegan pregnancy. She manages to be supportive and enthusiastic without veering into cloying or cooler-than-thou.

Expectant and pre-expectant parents shouldn’t be fooled by the relative slimness of the volume. No, this is not a massive tome breaking down your intra-uterine changes week by week, but it is packed with information about the most topical issues surrounding a vegan pregnancy and the post-partum period. There are lots of nutrition tips and suggestions from broad “try these ideas” to specific advice about handling situations with both supportive and not so supportive folks (including medical personnel). I’ve read a lot of pregnancy guides in my time and though I’m not currently expecting any stork stopovers, I really enjoyed the fact that (of course) all of the snack and meal suggestions were vegan. It can be a bit tiresome to continuously filter out the suggestions in other pregnancy books that don’t apply to you (“have a scrambled egg! eat some fish, but not too much!”) when you are pregnant and therefore often already tired. All of these tips and suggestions do apply to you! It’s so handy and nice!

Another aspect of this book to be appreciated is that the remedies to various commonly experienced pregnancy symptoms are assessed from a vegan point of view. Not only are the mainstream, typical treatments assessed for their veganness, if they are found not to be vegan, mother reader is provided with vegan options. For example, preparation H is not vegan (I didn’t know!).

Rebhal has no problem providing honest descriptions about some of the ins and outs of pregnancy and baby-related changes. From nutrition to nursing to placentophagy to social encounters and much more, this great guide will serve as a treasured resource and oasis for pregnant vegans and their families.

Review By JENNIFER GANNETT

In Teeny Tiny Ernest, Ernest spends a lot of time navel gazing and fretting about the fact that he is the smallest animal in his cadre of barnyard friends. When he tries silly tricks to make himself appear taller, his friends notice his unusual behavior and question him. He reveals that he’s been feeling inadequate, expecting buy-in to his pity party but his friends surprise him. It turns out that they haven’t been thinking about his stature at all because they have been more focused on his friendliness and big heart. In fact, Ernest’s friends point out, there are a number of advantages that come with being small that they can’t enjoy because of their larger size.

We’ve enjoyed the stories we’ve received to review in this series of picture books about the little donkey and his friends. Teeny Tiny Ernest is a particularly nice reminder that we all have our own strengths and challenges and bring our own special gifts to our community. This is a message that I think is especially important for veg kids to have reinforced.

A great choice for ages 4 and up.

Review By JENNIFER GANNETT

Daniel Pinkwater’s Wolf Christmas is the tale of a small wolf pack on Christmas Eve. Told from the perspective of one of the pack’s young wolves, Pinkwater and his illustrator wife Jill Pinkwater depict life in the pack. On this particular night, the young wolves are playful in the moonlight, but the pack’s adults cannot be coaxed into joining their fun. The dynamic shifts when Uncle Louis, a more lighthearted “funny wolf” arrives, inviting the pack to go on a run through the woods to an overlook. Though the other adults are hesitant, mindful of the dangers that the nearby humans present, Uncle Louis reminds them that the humans will be peaceful tonight, for this is a special night to them. All of the wolves make the trip, and are rewarded with the complex smells of humans, the twinkling lights of their Christmastime celebrations….and song. The wolf pack joins in with their own singing.

This is a special story which not only illustrates some typical wolf behavior but also introduces the concept of human-wolf conflict in a gentle way. Discuss this with your children, or just enjoy the rare moment when all animals are experiencing a collective peace.

The author, a contributor to NPR, can be heard reading this story on Weekend Edition here.

Readers with sensitive kids will want to note that there is a mention of the wolves’ meal, venison.

Ages 4 and up.

Review By JENNIFER GANNETT

A surprise find at during a swing through a neighboring town’s library, Redbird at Rockefeller Center is an appealing story based around the famous Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. When her mom sells their huge spruce to be the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, Kate pleads with her to change her mind because she is certain she’s heard birds living in it. Unmoved, Kate’s mom replies, “What do I care for a dumb bird or two…?” as she pulls a chicken (or turkey?) out of the oven. Sadly, the tree is chopped down and brought into the city, with a little red fledgling hanging on for dear life at the top. As it happens, the year’s theme is red birds, and soon the tree is covered with ornaments in the shape of cardinals. Poor Redbird finds this very confusing because none of the stuffed birds respond to his pleas for help. In the meantime, Kate has convinced her mom to trek into the city to double-check that there isn’t a bird in the tree. Wouldn’t you know it…when they arrive, Redbird is asleep and doesn’t stir. Without batting an eyelash, Kate’s mom moves on to the shopping portion of their afternoon in the city.

As one can imagine, Kate and Redbird continue to be very upset about the situation. Tears are shed, and then the magic kicks in: the cardinal ornaments come to life and magically return the tree to its original spot.

This story is a child-friendly Christmastime reflection of the realities of habitat destruction. What are the consequences of cutting down trees? The magic in this story creates a happy ending for Redbird, Kate and others who appreciated the tree in its original location, but unfortunately, outside of children’s literature, original habitat does not magically reappear after mature trees have been harvested.

The tale is told entirely in rhyme, which is neat for the most part though adults may notice that some of the rhyming stretches into clumsiness (in my experience, the children don’t mind).

Ages 4 and up.

Review By JENNIFER GANNETT

Lottavim and Normus are twin brothers who also happen to be giants. They are closely bonded best friends who do everything together but there is one difference between them: Lottavim likes meat and Normus is a vegetarian. This difference is woven throughout the telling of their story in The Twin Giants.

Dick King-Smith, the author of many children’s books (including the one upon which the movie “Babe” is based) tells a good old-fashioned rambling tale in The Twin Giants. The bulk of this short chapter book focuses on Lot and Norm’s search for suitable wives. They visit various regional mountains looking for women to marry, and their eating habits come into play in this quest. Eventually, they luck into a pair of gorgeous twin giantesses who have no conflicting food-related requirements and everyone lives happily ever after.

The illustrations in this story are very engaging and there is a humorous tone to the tale that definitely appeals.

This story isn’t for everyone, however, for a variety of reasons. For one thing, the boys are orphaned at a young age (giants don’t live long, the reader is informed). Vegan parents may want to know that Normus is fond of milk, eggs and honey. Additionally, these fellows are the kind of old school giants who don’t take the townsfolk into consideration while plundering their fields and markets or making threatening noises (though to be fair, this often happens by accident).

Though Normus’s vegetarianism is front and center, it seems like his choice is sometimes considered more of a hurdle than an embraced quality. (Anyone else been there and done that? Is art imitating your life?) While his choice is noted, there is no real discussion of the rationale.

This story exhibits a lot of acceptance around difference choices. Just as the characters honor Norm’s choice to be a vegetarian, so he too honors the choices of the omnivores around him without trying to sway them to the veggie side of things. This book is definitely one for parents to peruse through to determine whether or not it fits into their lives. Some of you might not appreciate the meatiness of the story, others of you just may be in the mood to read your kiddos a silly tale about giant twin brothers.

Ages 5 and up.

Review By JENNIFER GANNETT

When a bird named Joy alights for a rest on a bare, lonely mountain in the middle of nowhere, their conversation sets in motion a series of events that will forever change the mountain. Alice McLerran’s The Mountain that Loved a Bird is the tender, touching tale of a friendship that spans the ages.

The mountain begs Joy to stay but Joy must fly on. She passes word to her offspring to visit the mountain as they migrate, and they in turn pass word to their daughters. “Each Joy will have a daughter Joy,” the original Joy tells the mountain, “so that no matter how many years pass, you will always have a friend to greet you and fly above you and sing to you.”

After one hundred years of these entirely too-brief visits, the poor mountain can stand no more and bursts into tears. The tears of despair end up being just what the mountain needs most, for the tears turn into a stream. The next year, Joy brings a seed with her and tucks it into a crack. This seed becomes what is the first of many plants and trees that will take root, attracting insects and others. Eventually, the mountain and surrounding areas become beautiful, lush habitats and Joy returns not just with a seed but with a stick for a nest. The mountain is complete.

The prose of this touching story is abundant and beautiful. Bright illustrations by Eric Carle harmonize with the tale, but don’t be fooled — this story isn’t for the The Very Hungry Caterpillar set. It is a more complex book for children 6 and up to enjoy, and enjoy they will.

Review By JENNIFER GANNETT

As soon as a review copy of Maggie’s Second Chance: A Gentle Dog’s Rescue arrived, I looked through it and knew that Gryphon Press had another wonderful title with the release of this fantastic book. However, the true test is that of the intended audience, and in this case, the book was well received by children– as in the “let’s read this again!” for many nights in a row kind of well received.

Black lab(-ish) Maggie is abandoned when her family moves. Pregnant and left without food or heat, she is discovered by a real estate agent and ends up in custody of animal control. Maggie gives birth while at the shelter and her puppies are adopted out in short order while Maggie remains behind, “just another big black dog blending into the shadows.” (Black dogs do often have a more difficult time being adopted out.)

Though featured in the local paper, Maggie continues to languish in the shelter. One day a boy catches sight of her photo in the paper while he is taking out his family’s recycling. When he finds out she is in danger of being euthanized, he and his classmates are galvanized into action. They craft a plan for an animal shelter and present it to their town council, which, implausibly, gives permission for a no-kill shelter to be built.

Despite a seemingly lengthy hold time at the municipal shelter, Maggie’s time is up. With no potential adopter in sight, she is prepared by an apologetic shelter worker as she is to be led to her death. However, in a dramatic last minute rescue, she is saved– tapped to go the new no-kill shelter founded by the students.

Adults will need to hold on to their heart as they read this particular book, which does not shy away from the very difficult subject matter of shelter issues. However, through the author’s sensitivity there is an impressive dignity that accrues throughout the telling of Maggie’s story. The appealing illustrations lend themselves well to the story and depict Maggie as a gentle, patient, loyal girl. This fictional story is based on elements of a couple of true ones that have been woven together, but of course, not all animals (especially big black dogs) are lucky enough to find homes.

Ages 5 and up.