Green Books Campaign: 100 Bloggers Today: Review - The Simple Little Vegan Dog Book

THE SIMPLE LITTLE VEGAN DOG BOOK, Cruelty Free Recipes for Canines by Michelle A. Rivera (Book Publishing Company, 2009)

If you are a vegan yourself or want to try a more plant-based diet for your canine pals, then this book provides plenty of good recipes to choose from.

With yummy-sounding names like Banana Nut Crunch Bars, Apple Puggly PupCakes, Rover's Risotto and Snickerpoodles, you might almost be tempted to try these treats yourself. And you probably can since they contain a range of nutritious ingredients from your own kitchen.

The book is informative, offering information from veterinarians (with warnings also), and tips on foods that are both good - and bad - for dogs. For instance, no nutmeg. Did you know it's linked to tremors and can be deadly to dogs? I didn't.

The author comes from a certain viewpoint blogging as "The Vegan Grandmother" at the PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) website, but the book is balanced, offering viewpoints and first person anecdotes from those who choose such a diet for its anti-cruelty stance, for nutritional reasons and for variety in the dog's diet.

A confession here: I'm a basic, bake it or nuke it kind of cook. I don't use cookbooks but many of the recipes are simple enough that even a mostly non-cook like me could make them. I might even try a few! (Well my dog will!) I give it 4 out of 4 bones!

Other highlights are a health survey on dogs fed a vegan diet versus commercial based diet; comprehensive lists of "people" foods that are beneficial to dogs and those that are harmful; dozens of recipes for biscuits and treats as well as more substantial fare.

(Note: this copy was received free for review purposes and will be passed on to someone else.)

As a sidenote, the publisher focuses on plant-based nutrition and cooking,including pioneering books in soyfoods cookery and raw foods cuisine. As a member of The Green Press Initiative, the publisher commits to printing a growing number of titles on postconsumer recycledand chlorine-free processed paper.

GREEN BOOKS

Today's feature was presented as part of the Green Books Campaign: 1 Day, 100 bloggers, 100 green books, 100 reviews.
Today, 100 bloggers are simultaneously publishing reviews of a "green" book of their choice. Organized by Eco-Libris, the campaign aims to encourage both publishers and readers to get greener and make sure books are printed responsibly. The event promotes “green” books printed on recycled or FSC-certified paper.

“Although there's so much hype around e-books, books printed on paper dominate the book market, and we want them to be as environmentally sound as possible,” explains Raz Godelnik, co-founder and CEO of Eco-Libris. “Very few books are currently printed responsibly and we hope this initiative will bring more exposure to “green” books. Through this campaign we want to encourage publishers to get greener and readers to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books.”

Over 35 publishers from the U.S. , Canada and the U.K. are taking part in this campaign, providing participating bloggers with their latest books printed on recycled paper and FSC certified paper for review.

** See participating blogs at the Eco-Libris website.

Read Green - Plant a Tree via Eco-Libris

Founded in 2007, Eco-Libris is a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books. Check the website for how to get involved.

To achieve this goal Eco-Libris is working with book readers, publishers, authors, bookstores and others in the book industry worldwide. So far, over 110,000 books ahve resulted in 120,000 new trees being planted in developing countries.