Happy Animals: Friends Not Food

This cheerful and beautifully illustrated children's book provides an entertaining introduction to the meaning and compassion behind the choice to live a vegan lifestyle. Kids will meet six named characters from the animal kingdom and learn fun facts about each so they can see them as the lovable, sentient creatures they are. They will then learn about the connection between these living beings and their food in a positive and age appropriate way.

Liora Raphael lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two children, and their adored standard poodle. While browsing in a bookstore in college she happened to pick up a book about animal testing in the cosmetics industry. After reading it cover to cover in the aisle, her outlook changed and she immediately became vegetarian, and eventually vegan. In addition to spending time with her family and friends, Liora loves hiking, photography, and reading mystery novels. Glenn Saks lives in Los Angeles with his wife. He enjoys hiking in the nearby San Gabriel mountains and puttering around on his kayak. At the same time he was analyzing legal precedent and contract clauses, Glenn also began analyzing what he was putting on his plate. He had long noticed the disconnect between children enjoying stories with cute animals as the hero, and how often those very same animals were being fed to them at meal time. Susan Szecsi is a classically trained freelance illustrator and visual storyteller, living with her husband in Berkeley. Susan has worked with clients such as Scholastic, Chicago Review Press, Stanford University Press, Hunter House Publishers, and UCSF.