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We have chosen the books and videos here because they contain what we consider to be good sentiments. Some promote vegetarian-friendly ideas, some deal with environmental or spiritual issues and some promote children's self esteem. Most importantly - our children love them! You can click through to Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com in America to buy or read further. The blue links are for the UK store and the red ones for the USA store (both stores ship internationally). The main categories are all listed below. If you would like to be notified when we add more books you can join the monthly mailing list
A selection of favourites: From Miscellaneous
What a great book about numbers. I used to watch Johnny Ball's series and wonder why maths there was so interesting but so boring at school. It starts off like early years Waldorf numeracy, looking at the history of counting but moves on to amazing things like the Fibonacci sequence and phi, Pi, magic tricks, mazes, laws of chance and chaos - Daniel is fascinated by this book - what a change from the maths hating child he was. I (Lucy), who passed arithmatic 'O' Grade but have the numeracy skills of a baked bean, am also learning from this! Buy UK
From Vegetarian themes
Herb the Vegetarian Dragon by Jules Bass and Debbie Harter. The story of Herb who stands out from his fellow carnivorous dragons by being a vegetarian! He also brings peace to the forest of Nogard where dragons and people now live together in harmony! Colourful book with a real medieval, castles, knights and dungeons feel to it. It does get a bit gruesome at a point where you think that Herb is about to be beheaded so is not perfect for very small children. Reading ages 8-12 or read aloud.
Herb is now available as a 'Peace, Love and Vegetables' Gift set with the book and a bendy Herb toy.
'I Eat Vegetables' by Hannah Tofts. A very simple book for small children with large colour photos of different vegetables.
From Spirituality
'Birdie Halleluyah!' by Judith Kerr, the author of the much loved 'Mog' books. This is a very comical but loving look at the relationship between a small boy and his guardian angel. Simple text and gentle, detailed pictures make it suitable for very small children upwards.
A beautiful angel colouring book by Diana Cooper. A lovely way to connect children with angels.
From Environment
'Brother Eagle, Sister Sky' by Susan Jeffers. In the 1850s Chief Seattle delivered a message to the American government, who wanted to buy his peoples' land. This book is an interpretation of that message for children. Beautiful illustrations accompany the words of love and respect for the Earth.
'The Little Driver' by Martin Wagner. A thought provoking anti-car book for kids. Eight year old Joe wants nothing more than to have his own shiny, red car. When the dream comes true he discovers the perils of petrol, car salesmen, accidents, congestion and a host of social issues involving driving. The book leaves you thinking about our car mad culture - how did we get here, where will we go? - reading age 7 and up.
From the Love / growing up section'The JCB Song' by unsigned band Nizlopi. We love this song, it's pulling at the heart strings of people everywhere - written by a dyslexic who was bullied at school and by the school about a day with his dad away from school - you can hear it here Buy UK 'The Pop-Up Potty Book' by Marianne Bogardt and Maxie Chambliss. We loved this book when our children were at the learning about potties stage - the humour is appreciated by all ages and it really does seem to make little ones think about this issue!
The latest Mog book by Judith Kerr 'Goodbye Mog' brings a tear to all of us who have loved Mog through our own childhood and shared her with our own kids. The death of a loved animal is dealt with very matter of factly but also lovingly here with the spirit of Mog staying around to help a new kitten settle in. (More Mog in Festive titles )
From Festive titles
'The Spring Equinox - celebrating the greening of the Earth' - stories from different cultures and traditions - also hands on activities for children.
'The Winter Solstice' - a wonderful look at the different traditions of the solstice from a variety of cultures. The author has good ideas for explaining the tilt of the earth in relation to the sun to children. The book finishes with a Cherokee creation tale.
From the Caring for animals section
'Do Animals have Feelings Too?' by David L. Rice. True stories of animals exhibiting behaviour showing joy, loyalty and great intelligence.
'Spirit - Stallion of the Cimarron' - a beautiful and moving film about a wild stallion who would not be 'broken' though he does develop a strong friendship with a native American boy. Great soundtrack by Bryan Adams too. Buy UK or Buy US (VHS)
From the Feminist page
'Minty - a story of young Harriet Tubman' - here is a 'fiction mixed with facts' telling of the childhood of Harriet Tubman, who is famous for leading hundreds of slaves to freedom through the underground railroad. A very inspiring book, and also a good introduction to the subject of slavery for children. Buy UK or Buy US
'Princess Smartypants' - here is a fairy story with a feminist slant! Princess Smartypants does not want to get married - she wants to stay a Ms. and live happily ever after. She has to outwit Prince Swashbuckle first though - very funny book.
From Dr. Seuss
'The Lorax' - a strong environmental message here about deforestation and pollution from Dr. Seuss's lorax 'who speaks for the trees' and the greedy onceler who cuts down truffula trees to knit thneads (which everyone needs)
From Adult books
'Detox Your world' by Shazzie of www.shazzie.com - a fantastic guide to truly healthy living. There is a lot of information on non-food toxins and advice on how to lessen the effects and amounts of these in your life. Lots of wonderful ideas for eating more raw food and less cooked, including some detailed detox plans. Some very interesting 'detox helpers' are detailed such as meditation, skin brushing, laughing etc. but one stood out for us - the Tibetan Rejuvenation Rites. These are 5 simple exercises which when performed each day turn back that clock! They certainly are envigorating and it's almost worth buying the book for these alone :) There are also success stories and lots of raw recipes all presented in Shazzie's non-judgemental and often humerous way.
From Adult Fiction
Published both for adults and teens (though our 11 year old loved it too) - 'the curious incident of the dog in the night-time' by Mark Haddon is an exiting and unusual novel. Seen through the eyes of a 15 year old boy with Aspergers Syndrome - gives a good insight into the autistic mind - intense and difficult to put down.
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