The Essential Vegan Toolkit

by Sara Botero

The Essential Vegan Toolkit is the perfect guide for anyone interested in becoming vegan. It’s easier than ever to make this lifestyle change, so why not give it a go? Sara Botero’s charmingly bright illustrations will guide you on your way – and make you smile as well!

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2019

Reviews

[Bryony Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book, and a great reminder as a vegan of why I have made this lifestyle choice. Sara’s illustrations are beautiful and she teaches about veganism in a kind, compassionate and non-judgemental way. There are many facts about animals, our health and the environment. The how to go vegan section is filled with easy information from what cupboard staples to have in stock, to how to read labels, find vegan clothing and beauty products and more. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in choosing this lifestyle that needs a little help dispelling myths and seeing how easy it is to make positive changes.

[Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met the author of this book in a bookshop in Bath. Of course I had to then purchase her book. A delightful and inspirational young woman who has put together a brilliant, slightly-bigger-than-pocket-sized book for all things living vegan. Although I have been vegan for four years I still love this book and got a lot from it. Worth it for anyone looking to live more ethically, sustainably and kindly. VFTA

[Emilee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the variety of topics! Recommend for veganism beginners. The cute illustrations were the cherry on top ❤️

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the sweet/kind way she leads you into how to go vegan and the reasons to do so. The drawings are fun and cute.

[Natalie Lanphear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I happened to pick this book up in a museum bookstore in Bristol, UK and bought it after seeing all of the adorable art work. This book is an easy to understand resource for anyone looking to switch to a vegan lifestyle. I will find myself going back to this book from time to time for information or to just look at the cute drawings. After reading this book, I switched to being a vegetarian and I'm working towards being vegan (baby steps :). I would recommend this to anyone looking for a simple summary of the benefits to going vegan. It's also the perfect book for your coffee table!

[Kris Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It certainly is a toolkit!! I love this book so much. I would gladly call this the “Vegan Bible”. I don’t really have a neutral religious term to give to the book outside of Bible, but WOW!! It starts off with Part 1 explaining the hell that animals go through. I’ve been aware of animal suffering for a while and actually went vegan not originally for animals but it’s certainly one of my reasons. I’m a Black person who grew up in the south. And while I had a Jamaican mother who taught me about nutrition and health being wealth, my American father and his side was the total opposite. In fact, my father fought me on being vegan. I’ve always been taught to listen to your body. Especially with my mom having breast cancer twice which I learned was from the dairy products among other things. In America, we aren’t taught things like nutrition or even how to budget. This book helps you find your way with veganism. At first, you may feel immense guilt and shame after reading part 1, but it gets to a more hopeful note and tone afterwards. I think that it’s important that just like religion that nutrition is should be treated with grace. We were brought up to believe meat and animal products was the way to go, but after tracking the world and seeing that’s a lie, I know that I don’t have to and that my body will thank me.

Read with caution :)

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

PS. I find it really hard to rate nonfiction books.

"The Essential Vegan Toolkit" is exactly what it proclaims to be. It answers many burning questions those considering veganism will ask themselves and does it in a cute and colorful way. What I mean by the latter is that Botero has made this information fun, and easily consumable with their choice in colors and adorable drawings. It gives you a momentary break from the heavy conversation topics that Botero hits on. As someone who is already vegan I found this book a nice and easy refresher. I also found it loaded with helpful ways to learn more about this life style choice through the listings of different media forms, community groups and etc littering its pages. If you are interested in becoming vegan and don't know where to start I think this is a perfect way to get your feet wet.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The design and artwork in this book was delightful and so wonderfully done! I liked the structure and chapter overview because it gave a well rounded perspective for veganism. I think it is perfect for anyone wanting to know more or curious about being vegan. It is not intimidating at all! The one thing I didn't like was that the writing at times seems like it could use more editing. There were some sentences that didn't make sense or used vegan lingo I wasn't familiar with. For a book with so few words, every sentence should pack a punch and some were repetitive or wishy washy. All in all great info though! Oh- and the irony of drawing adorable faces on vegetables in a book about being vegan is not lost on me! XD

[Brianna Silva]

I couldn't resist picking this little book up from the store. It has cute illustrations, and lots of information about vegan nutrition (and more) conveniently in one place.

I was kind of proud of myself though when I realized that most of the information in here was not new to me; I'd learned it already, for the most part, with online research. There isn't anything here you can't learn for free by looking it up, so maybe buying it was kind of silly. Still... the illustrations are so cute! I'm not mad I did it, hehe.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contained lots of interesting and insightful information and I enjoyed reading it. I think it would serve someone well who was just starting and thinking about veganism. It did have a couple of grammar errors though, nothing to offensive but slightly jarring when first spotted.

[Rosie Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and accessible introduction to veganism with a dollop of kindness.

[Margi Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had little understanding of the cruelty involved and am rapidly adapting my eating habits

[Lindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily digestible

[Jamie Wahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written in a sort of cartoon-like way to make it easy to read and understand. I learned so much. I knew very little about what animals go through before reading this book. I had no idea how these animals are not only killed inhumanly, but also the mistreatment, torture, and premature deaths they are forced to endure. I also had no idea how many different products come from animals besides the obvious meat products, dairy products, and leather goods. Various vitamins, supplements, and “hidden” ingredients in so many things! This book has greatly changed my thoughts on all types of animal products.