That's Why We Don't Eat Animals: A Book About Vegans, Vegetarians, and All Living Things by Ruby Roth

That's Why We Don't Eat Animals is a rather frightening look at what happens to animals in factory farms. The adorable depictions of animals in this text cause readers to be shocked when the author chooses to show them in the deplorable conditions of some factory farms. Personally, I find this book too frightening and traumatizing for young readers and actually bought it to show my high school students how children's books are not always what you expect them to be (happy stories often teaching a moral lesson). This happens to be a precursor to my WWII Nazi propaganda unit (showing pro-Nazi children's books of this era and how propaganda infiltrates all ages). While the book successfully makes one disturbed by the animals' situation, I think there are less upsetting ways to discuss being a vegetarian or vegan with a child than showing them these images.

By Julia, 9-12 teacher