Book Reviews
COMPASSIONATE SOULS - RAISING THE NEXT GENERATION TO CHANGE THE WORLD
By JoAnn Farb
In the introduction to her new book, JoAnn Farb states, "This is a book about conscious parenting. It is, therefore, a book about choices." Indeed, you or someone you know raising a child today definitely has challenges. And if you're bringing up your child vegetarian or vegan, there are additional issues to be dealt with on a daily basis.
JoAnn is a vegan activist. She has two daughters and has learned (and is still learning) a lot while raising them. In Compassionate Souls, JoAnn touches on issues such as birthing methods, breastfeeding, vaccination, nonviolent discipline, education, and dealing with family and community.
From the start, JoAnn indicates that the reader may or may not agree with all her ideas. Personally, as the mother of a 2-year-old vegan child, I do not concur with all of JoAnn's choices. Nevertheless, I feel this book would be an interesting read for anyone thinking of raising his or her children in as non-violent a way as possible.
Compassionate Souls is not a technically researched book. Rather, it is a book offering one person's opinion based on her own experiences. It will certainly make you think about the choices you have when raising children in a meat-eating and often violent world.
Compassionate Souls (ISBN 1-930051-03-4) is 192 pages. It is published by Lantern Books and retails for $15. Look for this book in your local bookstore. You can also visit Lantern Books website at <www.lanternbooks.com>.
Reviewed by Debra Wasserman.
INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS - THE VEGAN PARADIGM COOKBOOK
By Gentle World
Gentle World is a nonprofit group dedicated to the prevention and alleviation of human and animal suffering, specifically by educating the public as to the health, environmental, ethical, and spiritual benefits of the vegan diet and lifestyle. Incredibly Delicious - The Vegan Paradigm Cookbook is their newest vegan cookbook (previously they published The Cookbook for People Who Love Animals). It contains over 500 vegan recipes.
Members of Gentle World created The Vegan Restaurant on Maui, Hawaii, and they are caterers. You'll find many creative recipes in this new cookbook. For example, you can try Hawaiian Toast, Whole Wheat English Muffins, Thai Tofu Salad, Coconut Curry Soup, Creamy Carrot-Cashew Paté, Vietnamese Spring Rolls, Creamy Polenta with Tempeh Onion Sauce, Mexican Enchilada Pie, Greek Eggplant Moussaka, Creole Seitan Gumbo, plus many more. You'll also find a section of raw recipes, including Almond "Mayo," Chinese Cabbage-Pecan Salad, Sunflower Vegetable Burgers, Raw Fruit Pie, and several more dishes.
Incredibly Delicious The Vegan Paradigm Cookbook (ISBN 0-929274) is 302 pages. It is published by Gentle World, Inc., and can be purchased from The Vegetarian Resource Group. Send $26 per book (includes postage) to VRG, PO Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203, or call (410) 366-8343 9 am to 5 pm EST.
Reviewed by Debra Wasserman.
THIS CAN'T BE TOFU!
By Deborah Madison
Deborah Madison, founding chef of Greens restaurant in San Francisco, has written a new cookbook, This Can't Be Tofu! Although this is not a totally vegetarian cookbook (a few recipes contain seafood), it is vegan-friendly. Many of the remaining 70+ recipes are vegan, and several of the other vegetarian recipes can be made vegan by substituting vegan cheese for cheese made from animal products, eggless noodles for egg noodles, etc.
Deborah offers exciting tofu dishes. You can sample Warm Red Cabbage Salad with Peppered Tofu Crisps, Coconut-Red Curry Soup with Butternut Squash and Lime, Spicy Red "Sausage," Peanut Soup with Rice and Scallions, and much more.
This Can't Be Tofu! (ISBN 0-7679- 0419-2) is published by Broadway Books. It is 132 pages and retails for $15. Look for this book in your local bookstore.
Reviewed by Debra Wasserman.
