More and more children and young people are becoming vegan or getting interested in veganism. A poll by BBC Good Food in 2021 found that eight per cent of children aged five to 16 are vegan, while a further 15 per cent said they wanted to go vegan. To help these children, their parents and their teachers, the Vegan Society recently launched the Vegan Education Network, which will create resources to enable educators to be vegan-inclusive and support vegan parents, children and young people in mainstream education.

Inspired by this idea, here is a selection of non-fiction books on veganism and animal rights for young adults, whether they are already vegan or considering a more plant-based lifestyle. 

Be More Vegan: The young person's guide to a plant-based lifestyle by Nikki Webster

This bright and nicely laid out guide from Nikki Webster, a food blogger and consultant, helps young vegans and plant-based eaters to explore the motivations behind their choices by explaining health, environmental, and animal welfare reasons for going vegan.

With 50 easy recipes from everything from breakfast to pudding using common ingredients and tips for substitutions, the book offers readers a simple way to gain confidence as plant-based cooks. It also covers common questions about the nutrition and ethics of plant-based diets.

This Book is Cruelty-Free by Linda Newbery

With a catchy title and sharp monochrome graphics, this guidebook by novelist Linda Newbery is full of information about all aspects of living a vegan, cruelty-free lifestyle. It addresses the everyday choices we make, from what goes on our plates to what make-up we use to how we view and react to other species, as well as bigger ethical questions including pet ownership and the value of zoos. 

Newbery is sensitive to the social resistance that young vegans are likely to meet as they try to live cruelty-free and offers practical tips on how to advocate confidently for their principles, as well as ways to get more active for animals by campaigning and protesting. 

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Bear Boy by Justin Barker

This coming-of-age memoir tells the story of 13-year-old Barker's experience of finding his place in the world through animal activism. After encountering two black bears named Ursula and Brutus kept in a small, barren enclosure at a local zoo in Sacramento, California, Barker set out to help them. While struggling to come to terms with his sexuality and coping with being bullied at school, Barker became the bears’ biggest advocate, raising both media attention of their plight and the funds to build them a new, more appropriate enclosure at another zoo. 

In an interview with Surge last year, Barker said that he hoped the book might inspire young people to take action for animals the way he was inspired as a teen by the book Kids Can Save the Animals: 101 Easy Things to Do. Written in easy and engaging prose and evoking the relatable difficulties of being a teen who doesn’t fit in, this book will no doubt help create a new crop of young animal activists.

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

This picture book is aimed at a slightly younger audience than the recommendations above, but with its cartoonish but not too-cute illustrations, it’s a great introduction to the problems with how most animals are farmed for food. Contrasting the miserable lives they have in confinement with how animals live in their natural state, this book shows that being born into life on a farm does not mean they are only fit for human consumption. This book taps into children’s instinctive compassion towards animals and offers guidance for families about how to make kinder choices.

Claire Hamlett is a freelance journalist, writer and regular contributor at Surge. Based in Oxford, UK, Claire tells stories that challenge systemic exploitation of and disregard for animals and the environment and that point to a better way of doing things.

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