Vegan Kids Books that Teach Empathy and Kindness

We’re so excited to share this comprehensive guide to compassionate, kind, animal-friendly, and vegan kids books. Whether you’re a conscious parent looking for children’s books to read to your own little one(s), or you’re searching for compassionate books to gift to the vegan kids or young people in your life, we’ve got you covered!

These are exciting times we’re living in. Scroll back just a decade and there were virtually zero kids books written specifically for vegan kids. Parents were left to their own devices to try and navigate these topics with their kids. Today, there are new vegan children‘s books published every year and there are more vegan children’s books than ever before. Which is a really good thing.

Now more than ever we need to teach our little ones that compassion and kindness go a long way, and what better way to do this than through precious reading time.

Top 5 Vegan Kids Books

As you’ll see below, there is an ever-growing collection of vegan kids books coming to life. But as a team of moms and parents here at World of Vegan, we definitely have our favorites. Here are our top picks, chosen for the beautiful high-quality artwork, the friendly approachable message with concepts that don’t get too dark, and a positive ethical takeaway.

Interestingly, a few of our top picks are not specifically vegan books and are not even written by vegan authors, but they’re loved in homes of all types of eaters, and carry special significance to vegan parents and children. 

Linus The Vegetarian T-Rex 

By Robert Neubecker (Ages 2 – 12)

This fantastic kids book is our top pick for kids bookshelves. It’s not a specifically vegan book, so it’s a great read whether you identify as a herbivore, omnivore, or anywhere in between. But the sweet story, which takes place in a Natural History Museum, stars a little girl who loves dinosaurs and a very big, very strong, very vegetarian T-Rex!

Junebug

By Nicole Daniels (Ages 1 – 6)

Teaching kindness to all creatures can be challenging for parents, especially when little ones play with other kids who model unkind behaviors. This book is the perfect sweet and fun way to show children why bugs deserve compassion too. This book illustrates how to teach other kids that it’s far more fun to be kind to bugs, watch insects instead of stomping on them, and collect pictures of them instead of catching them in nets.

Sprig The Rescue Pig & Gwen the Rescue Hen

By Leslie Crawford (Ages 4 – 7)

These beautifully illustrated animal rescue stories make a great addition to a vegan kids book collection. They help illustrate how all animals—including pigs and chickens—are individuals and have personalities, emotions, and are deserving of love.

In the first book book, a charming pig narrowly escapes a terrible fate by leaping out of a truck and sets out on a fascinating adventure, finding friendship with a young girl.

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, & The Horse

By Charlie Mackesy (Ages 3 – Adult)

Globally recognized by adults and children alike for its thought-provoking illustrations, this book challenges us all to ask the simple (but most important and often overlooked) questions of life.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” asked the mole.

“Kind,” said the boy.

– The Boy and The Mole

This book has become and international phenomenon, and it’s an absolute essential in every household. It became so popular it was sold out in multiple countries. At the time of this writing, it has over 100,000 5-star ratings on Amazon. It would also make a great gift for yourself, the kids in your life, your sibling, your co-worker, your grandpa, and literally every human being.

Vivi The Super Vegan

By Tina Newman (Ages 5 – 9)

“I loved this story and Vivi’s mission to be a fierce protector of animals! Her story reminds us that compassion is a true superpower and that we each have the capacity to be real-life heroes to the animals who desperately need us to care more. Vivi’s idealism and the charming illustrations reflect a harmony between people and animals that I dream about!”

– Evanna Lynch, Actress in Harry Potter

More Vegan Children’s Books: A Growing List

These books are so beautiful and carefully written! Each of them touches the topic of compassion and empathy for animals in a different way but they all share the same core: animals are our equals. We picked from all age ranges for you to have a broad selection!

• V Is For Vegan: The ABCs of Being Kind by Ruby Roth (Ages 3 – 7)
• That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals by Ruby Roth (Ages 6 – 9)
• Vegan Is Love by Ruby Roth (Ages 7 – 10)
• The Vegan Alphabet Book by Miss E. E. Bertram (Ages 2 – 6)
• Sprig The Rescue Pig by Leslie Crawford (Ages 4 – 7)
• Gwen The Rescue Hen by Leslie Crawford (Ages 4 – 7)
• Linus The Vegetarian T-Rex by Robert Neubecker (2 – 8)
• The Adventures of Esther The Wonder Pig by Steve Jenkins, Derek Walter & Caprice Crane (Ages 0 – 9)
• Junebug: No Life Too Small by Nicole Daniels and Addy Rivera Sonda (Ages 0 – 6)
• Juno’s Ark by Jim Mellon and Simone Fumagalli
• Just Like Me by Stanley Foo (Ages 2 – 5)
• I’m A Super Vegan by Katie Clark (Ages 3 – 7)
• We All Love by Julie Hausen (Ages 1 – 7)
• Steven The Vegan by Dan Bodenstein (Ages 4 – 8)
• That’s Not My Momma’s Milk by Julia Barcalow (Ages 3 – 7)
• The Vegan Prince on Her Troublesome Adventures by David and Holden Gould (Ages 1 – 7)
• The Vegan Princess on Her Troublesome Adventures by David and Holden Gould (Ages 1 – 7)
• Dave Loves Chickens by Carlos Patino (Ages 2 – 6)
• Vivi The Super Vegan by Tina Newman (Ages 5 – 9)
• Not A Nugget by Stephanie Dreyer (Ages 2 – 5)
• Charlie to the Rescue by Kara Maria (Ages 3 – 7)
• Santa’s First Vegan Christmas by Robin Raven and Kara Maria
• Little Animals, Mean World series of 5 books by Angela Prada-Moed (Ages 9+, contains difficult subject matter, use these vegan kids books to help educate about animal cruelty issues.)
• What Is A Vegan? by Andrew Miele and Justin Gray (Ages 5 – 7)
• Vegan Family by Randi Seltzer Bonica and Abby Broussard (Ages 2 – 5)
• Jake & Ava: A Boy And A Fish by Jonathan Balcombe & Rebecca Evans (Ages 3 – 7)
• Marv & Millie: A Heart-to-Heart by Steven Palombo and Laura Bee (Ages 3+)
• What Kind of Kind by Steven Palombo (Ages 3+)

Recommended Children’s Books (That Aren’t Specifically Vegan)

If you prefer to share kindness with the littles ones without a focus on veganism, you also have plenty of options! These would be a great option if you need to gift non-vegan kids or families. These will do the trick, for sure!

• Gorgeously Me by Jonathan Van Ness (Ages 4 – 8)
• I’ll Love You Till The Cows Come Home (Ages 1 – 6)
• Slumberkins (All ages)
• Bad Day by Ruby Roth (Ages 3 – 7)
• I Am Human: A Book of Empathy by Susan Verde (Ages 4 – 8)
• The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, & The Horse by Charlie Mackesy (Ages 5 – Adult)
• What You Do Matters by Kobi Yamada (Ages 5 – 8)
• Care For Our World by Karen S. Robbins & M.H Clark (Ages 5 – 6)
• The One And Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (Ages 8 – 12)
• The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life With The Chimps by Jeanette Winter
• The Lonely Polar Bear by Khoa Lee
• Don’t Let Them Disappear: 12 Endangered Species Around The World by Chelsea Clinton
• Chirri and Chira: The Snowy Day (Preschool – 3rd Grade)

Vegan Kids Books by Ruby Roth

By Ruby Roth (Ages 4 – 8)

We have to give a big shout out to Ruby Roth, one of the first visionaries and vegan children’s book authors to emerge. She really paved the way for the books that followed. As a vegan teacher, she saw the urgent need to start spreading kindness form a very early age, which led her to write several vegan children storybooks and a vegan kids cookbook. Her titles include:

• V Is for Vegan: The ABCs of Being Kind
• This is Why We Don’t Eat Animals
• Vegan is Love: Having Heart & Taking Action
• The Help Yourself Cookbook for Kids
• Bad Day

Her books do cover difficult topics and do touch on animal cruelty, so make sure your child is ready for those subjects and that you’re there to help explain them.

Vegan Kids Cookbooks

Teaching kids how to cook healthy food from a young age will benefit them for the rest of their lives! Giving them this skill and allowing them to fend for themselves in the kitchen can help them boost their confidence and awaken a love for healthy food!

• The Vegan Cookbook for Kids by Barb Musick
• The Vegucated Family Table by Marisa Miller Wolfson and Laura Delhauer
• Plant-Powered Families by Dreena Burton
• The Help Yourself Cookbook For Kids by Ruby Roth (Ages 6 – 12)

We’ve also had lots of families share how much their kids love the recipes from The Friendly Vegan Cookbook!

Try giving your child a cookbook and allowing them to pick out a recipe that you’ll cook for them. This is a great way to involve and empower them in the kitchen—without the mess!

A Growing Movement Of Vegan Kids & Vegan Parents

We all want the world to be a better place for all living beings, right? Spreading the vegan message is not only achieved in conversations or by sharing animal welfare-related posts on social media, but you can also pay attention to what the little ones in your life read. Teaching compassion and kindness is the best way to ensure that our future generations do better than our previous ones.

More Resources for Vegan Parents & Kids

Kids are the future, and teaching kindness and healthy habits from a young age can change the world. That’s why we’re so passionate about bringing lots of resources for kids (and parents, and aunties, and uncles, and friends) to inspire compassion in the next generation. Here are some of our other favorite resources for vegan kids:

• Printer-Friendly Vegan Coloring Page
• Free Printable Vegan Zentangle (Coloring Page)
• Printable Kids Maze and Vegan Activity Book
• How to Live Without Bacon | Kids Edition
• 10 Vegan Kid-Approved Meals That Parents Will Love Too
• “We Raise Our Kids 99% Vegan—And Here’s Why”