Customer Reviews

Raising Vegan Children in a Non-Vegan World: A Complete Guide for Parents

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bringing up children in the healthiest way is a daunting task for any parent, but vegan families have special concerns. From wondering if your children will get adequate nutrition to questions about whether they should take a trip to the zoo, vegan parents may feel pressured to compromise their beliefs.

"Raising Vegan Children in a Non-Vegan World" defines a vegan as someone who doesn't eat meat, dairy products, eggs, or any food not of plant origin, such as honey. It also states vegans avoid wearing clothing made from animal products. They don't use cleaning products or cosmetics made from or tested on animals. They also avoid amusement where animals are confined, such as zoos or circuses. The book cites compelling reasons for a vegan lifestyle. The number one being the mistreatment of animals used for human consumption. It also lists health benefits of omitting animal products from your diet.

This complete guide for vegan parents deals with issues that arise at each stage of a child's development. You'll get advice for feeding children from toddler age to teens that ensures they get required nutrients. Tips are included for avoiding hidden animal ingredients at home and while eating out. You'll learn that beans are sometimes made with animal fat, soy cheeses may contain casein or rennet, and even bread may contain whey.

Parents learn how to choose a day care or preschool that will cater to their child's special diet and how to constructively deal with problems that may arise. When children enter school, a new set of potential issues arise. This book gives advice on dealing with teachers and school staff, handling bullies and teasing, school parties, field trips, fundraisers, and dissection. Pavlina also gives advice on explaining vegan choices to children.

Vegan parents wondering if their children will still be able to socialize at birthday parties, scout organizations, holiday parties, and summer camp will be reassured by Pavlina's commonsense suggestions. Even traveling is not a problem when you are prepared for any eventuality. In fact, much of Pavlina's advice is useful to non-vegans. She shows the wisdom of "being prepared for the worst but hoping for the best" - words any parent can live by. Pavlina encourages dealing with problems that arise in a constructive manner. She gives excellent suggestions for educating others about animal rights and positive ways to put "compassion into action".

The last section of the book gives recipes yummy enough to tempt any palate. You'll learn to make French Toast, sandwiches, snacks, muffins, and cookies without animal products.

"Raising Vegan Children in a Non-Vegan World" is a must for vegans and indeed a valuable tool for any parent. It's a reference book you will use again and again.

It's about time someone wrote a book just for us vegan parents. My children are still very young and I've been searching for a book that will help me get an idea of the challenges we are going to face once my kids get to school. This book answered every question I had, and then some!

The book was also a fast read, not all scientific and authoritative. Just good, honest, practical advice and tips. I read the book in just two sittings; in fact, I couldn't put it down once I started because the writing flowed really well.

Highlights include:

-- How to explain to teachers and day care workers what your child's needs are.

-- How to deal with doctors, friends, and family who might disagree with your chosen lifestyle.

-- Great ideas for how to transition children to veganism, no matter what their age is.

-- A pretty decent nutrition section that covers the most important nutrients your kids need, and written in a format that I understood easily.

-- A chapter that includes great travel tips if you're vegan.

-- My favorite chapter, the one on Social Situations. She covers everything like birthday parties, holidays, summer camp, finding other vegan families in your neighborhood, etc. I found so many of those tips useful in my daily life.

-- I enjoyed the chapter on compassion in action, but felt she could have taken that one a lot further than she did.

Overall, though, a fantastic book, and I highly recommend it to parents who have vegan kids. I plan to re-read it often as my children get older and start to encounter new situations.

Answers questions you may not have considered (especially for those of us with young babies who are just trying to figure this stuff out). Guides you in ways to address daycare/school issues and makes you feel like you're not alone in dealing with the 'food issue' when your child is in someone else's care. It's easy to read and very helpful in detailing ways to answer some of those ridiculous questions that people always ask about...I highly recommend this book.

A breezy-read, yet information-packed, Erin Pavilna's book makes it easy to be a vegan family. She provides the basics of being vegan and ideas about how to help the children transition to a vegan life-style. She explains what is healthy about veganism as well as how to stay healthy as a vegan family. Schools, doctors, social events, so many challenges. Pavlina brings ideas to help you through all the sticky situations. Finally, she brings great ideas on staying more planet-frienldy, and some great recipes that kids are going to gobble up. REVIEWER: Dr. Linda Palmer, author "Baby Matters, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Caring for Your Baby."

This book gave me the information, encouragement and courage I needed to continue my pursuit of vegan living. In my opinion it is the "Vegan Bible" for vegan families covering such topics as nutrition, helping children transition, schools and daycare, social situations, traveling and even recipes. I really can't think of a question a concerned parent may have that wouldn't be answered in this book. As for the other 3 star ratings, I just don't see the basis for such unwarranted critisism from fellow vegans. If you need answers, encouragement and guidance then by all means get this book. I still refer back to mine for advice or a little confirmation now and then.

This book is quite informative and helpful to those new to a vegan lifestyle. I think that I've read every book out there on veganism and this one is the best for addressing children's issues. It is tough raising a veg*n children! Thanks to this book, it is easier.

A friend recommended this book to me and I have to say it is fabulous! This book covers so many topics that other books just don't cover. The author's writing style is so friendly, which made the book a quick read. I hate it when books are so full of tables, charts, graphs, facts, figures, and what-not that it reads like a scientific article and you can never even remember what you read. While reading this book I felt like the author really understood my concerns as a vegan mom (probably because she's a mom herself). I also visit the author's website/magazine frequently and I get a lot out of that too. In my opinion, this book is the bible for vegan parents!

I highly recommend this book for parents who are new to the vegan lifestyle. Even though I have been a vegetarian since I was a teenager, living vegan, and raising vegan children, is a completely new chapter in my life. This book has given me a lot of confidence that I made the right choice, and that it is possible to be different, without worrying about your children being teased or excluded by others. I know that as my children get older, they will begin to see the bigger picture of what it means to be vegan, and that it includes more than just a change in their diet. The book includes a nice introduction to the reasons for why people choose to be vegan, discusses many events and situations that you and your children may encounter, and even has some delicious recipes in the back. You may also want to check out the author's website at www.vegfamily.com

I loved this book! Read very easily, but packed with info. It brought up situations I hadn't even thought of, like vaccinating your kids. There were a few things I didn't like. For instance, when Erin gives advice on whether or not to support your daughter's girl scouts troop by buying cookies, she seems to think it's okay to buy them, as long as you give them to a charity. For most of us, being vegan isn't just not eating animal products, it's economics: denying our money to the industries. A lot of her advice isn't applicable at all to the majority of Americans who live in small towns. There are no vegan or even vegetarian-friendly restaurants in most of America, and the very small cities which were near (an hour away) my hometown didn't even have a health food store.

Overall, though, very good book. I'm glad she breaks down possible options for dealing with each age group, especially teenagers, when it comes to being vegan. Love the recipes, too.

This book was okay. If you're new at veganism and don't really have confidence it's a good way to get started. The recipes are a joke though. I mean, a recipe for a peanut butter sandwich or a bean burrito? okay...I do like that she asks parents to rethink vaccines though. Something every parent should do!