Children’s book writers often feel that their mission is to teach their readers, whether through facts, religion, morals, social codes, ways of thinking, or some other set of beliefs or ideas. But they are not alone. Parents, babysitters, older brothers and sisters, grandparents, teachers, friends, and priests want the same. Every single day, someone tells children what to do and how to behave. In kindergarten, at school, and at home, they learn about good manners and desirable behavior.

Donkeys appear in various ways in literature; mostly in a negative context as a symbol of human flaws, weaknesses and failures. Rarely are they portrayed as a being worthy of respect and admiration. Here I will give a few examples of the donkey in well-known literary works.
The donkey is one of the most exploited and abused animals in history. Donkeys were used for towing cargo and for chariots in Sumer (modern day Iraq/Kuwait) as early as around 2600 BC. The attitude towards donkeys has not changed much even today. The donkey is still a labor force that is brutally used and a tourist attraction in some countries, even ridden by people who weigh over 100 kilos.

I’ve heard some parents say “My 5-year-old child loves animals so much and there is no other way to meet his favorite heroes from ‘The Lion King’ but to take him to the zoo.” The zoo is indeed home to celebrity doubles from children’s favorite movies and books, such as lions, giraffes, tigers, elephants, hyenas, monkeys, pythons, parrots, and other exotic species. 

What if parents say, “My five-year-old is so interested in the secrets of the Universe.” What is the best way to learn about planets? Maybe buy him a rocket ticket to Mars?! It’s a little expensive, but you could let your little boy write a Christmas letter to Elon Musk to ask.

Many people are surprised to hear that animals can communicate just as much as they do. Most believe that only parrots have the gift of speech. However, all animal species have their own language, and the fact that we do not understand them is actually our problem. Many people do not understand French or Chinese either, but they don’t think that the French and the Chinese fail to communicate with each other.

Humor is a powerful tool to talk about important and painful topics in a way that will attract attention. Stand-up comedian and activist Lee Camp manages to speak in a humorous way about animal rights and the manipulation of the meat industry and the media. Like the ingenious Bill Hicks and George Carlin, Lee Camp acts as a critical thinker and a prejudice breaker coming out of a given pattern of human behavior. The comedian presents his own point of view on a world-current topic, which is climate change and the impact of the meat industry on the ecological crisis.

It is terribly wrong to talk about the equality of animals and humans. Animals are not like humans because they lack many traits that only humans can have: arrogance, hypocrisy, conceit, ambition, and greed. It’s an unrealistic comparison when people who misbehave are told: “You behave like an animal”. What’s wrong with an animal’s behavior? We know that people do things that animals would never think of.

The meat industry, butchers, and hunters find any excuse to kill animals by claiming that animals have no feelings and that they are not capable of love. On the contrary, there are many examples to show that animals are capable of loving their young, their partners, and their friends. They feed their babies, clean them, wash them, play with them, pet them, protect them from danger, teach them life skills, and warn them when they are rude, just as human parents do with their kids.

If you want to choose the right book for your child, don’t let the child choose the book. I’m kidding, of course! It is nice when a child wants to choose a colorful book independently as this often means they are willing to read it. However, the role of parents in choosing books that children will read is also very important. There are many criteria by which parents can choose books, and when it comes to choosing the right vegan children’s books, it is important to pay special attention to two things.