Comments on: Children's Literature: Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon

By: What Makes You Green: Environmental Mentality : Eco Child’s Play

What Makes You Green: Environmental Mentality : Eco Child’s Play — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:15:05 +0000

[...] years I was a happy vegetarian. My husband is a devoted carnivore. We have five children and my vegetarianism fell to the wayside. [...]

By: Jennifer Lance

Jennifer Lance — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:07:39 +0000

Thank you for your comments and opinions Jen. After I wrote the review, I did think about the violence in fairy tales, and I do think that in some stories it does serve a purpose. I guess I felt the story was awkward and led me in different directions at different times, which confused the message, in my opinion, and the violence did not help tell the tale. I think the quote from Herb I included in the post is a little strange. I have never had a meat eater try to make me eat meat, but I have met many vegetarians, especially vegans, who are quite preachy or express disdain for meat eaters. In my experiences, it was the vegetarians who are less tolerant of the meat eaters, and I include myself in this picture. I can’t stand to be in a house where bacon has been cooked, and I let whomever’s home it is know it!

By: Jen Strohl

Jen Strohl — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 23:54:10 +0000

My children and I love the Herb story! Jules Bass (who is a vegetarian himself) has a “cheeky” style of humor that is apparent in his other works. Think about how irreverent some of the actions and comments are in those holiday specials. I am very intrigued by Jennifer’s comment that this book is not gentle and peaceful because like those holiday specials, I don’t think the book was intended to be that way. I think you have to take the humor not so literally and with a grain of salt – so to speak.

I agree that some people will be put off by the violence, but I also see it as an opportunity to open a dialogue with my children about what is acceptable and what isn’t isn’t as well as how they feel about the actions the characters are engaged in. Sadly, there is plenty of violence in our world. Many traditional children’s stories are violent but there is a reason – it allows children to develop their emotions and responses while they sort out what is and is not appropriate.

While I am certainly not showing “Saving Private Ryan” on our family movie night, I think we do our children a disservice if we shield them too much from the realities of the world. Maybe I am too “pie in the sky” but I hope that when my children grow up they will be agents of change helping to remedy the horrible things in our world because they are aware of and dissatisfied with them.

I believe that this story is meant to demonstrate that our global community can get along and actually appreciate each other’s differences while learning new things from each other (think – the young dragon who wants to learn how to plant a garden).

Finally, although the main character is not a Vegetarian, “The Boy Who Grew Flowers” is another Barefoot Book that teaches tolerance and acceptance in a more peaceful manner that may be more well suited for those opposed to the violence in Herb. Also, “Tenzin’s Deer” set in Tibet, is very much worth a look.

By: Kendra Holliday

Kendra Holliday — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:01:16 +0000

My daughter has been veg since the womb and there are 2 other veg kids in her 1st grade class!

I kindof think it’s lame to call a veg dragon Herb and call the forest dragon spelled backwards. Not very creative in my opinion. Then again, I have lots of children’s book ideas myself and they are just sitting around in notebooks and I’m not spreading any important messages, so kudos to Jules and Debbie!