Monday's green books series: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Organic Living

Today on our Monday's green books series we have another book from the Complete Idiot's Guide.

No, you don't have to be an idiot to enjoy this book - all you need is to want to learn more and to do it right, at least when it comes to organic living. What does organic living mean? the book we review today has the answers.

Our book for today is:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Organic Living

Authors: Eliza Sarasohn and Sonia Weiss

Eliza Sarasohn is an editorial director for CE Media, oversees four eco-style city publications and websites. She is also the editor-in-chief of the online health and wellness network Lime.com. Thomas's work has appeared in Experience Life, Women's Adventure, LA Eating, Utne Reader, and other publications.

Sonia Weiss has written or co-authored 12 books in The Complete Idiot's Guide series. She is a long-time organic gardener and uses natural and organic ingredients to make many of her skin-care products.

Publisher: Alpha

Published on: February 2009

What it is about:
Wholesome tips for a healthier you. Everyone knows that we should be doing more to be good to our body— but moving toward an organic lifestyle can be overwhelming. This guide provides step-by-step information on everything from food to cleaning products to how to detoxify our bodies. It includes choosing quality natural products, exploring holistic alternatives to conventional medicine, and determining what to eat—and what not to eat.

Why you should get it:
1. It is a very useful resource even if you're already familiar with organic living and organic products. The book tries both to make some order in all the information available on this topic and to provide the reader a comprehensive review of the topic - from the history of organic movement (did you know the industrial revolution also changed the face of agriculture forever with the invention of motorized machinery and chemical fertilizers?) to organic furniture.

2. I found there great tips for greening up your life, from yummy food recipes that gives you creative ideas of how to use organic products to recipes for chemi-free lotions, shampoos and even minty toothpaste and deodorant!

3. The book helps you to better understand related definitions, many of them are quite complexed (I had no idea what solubilizers are until I found in the glossary these are substances used to dissolve other substanes in). Not only that there's a good glossary at the end of the book, but you can also find definitions throughout the book in a separate small window - very convenient and very helpful.

4. This book walks the talk and is printed on recycled paper! Way to go!


WANT TO WIN A COPY OF THIS BOOK?

All you have to do is to join our Earth Day celebration on our Facebook group. We're celebrating there Earth Day with tree planting, giveaway of green books and an effort to increase our group to 1000 members! Every day, until the end of the month, we will have a giveaway of a book of authors and publishers we work with, including a copy of 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Organic Living '!

So if you're already a member, bring along more Facebook friends to the group. If you're not a member, join in and bring other friends with you.

If you're looking for other interesting green-themed books, you are invited to check out our green books page on our website's green resources section.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

Monday's green books series: The Green Eaters

Today we're having for our green books series a cute green picture book for babies and young children:

The Green Eaters - A Dream Comes True

Author: Jennifer Murphy. Illustrated by Mary Deaton.

Jennifer Murphy lives in Chicago with her husband Dan, super spunky daughter Natalia, "Green Eater" son Owen, and crazy cat Diva. Jennifer has had a variety of careers and life experiences. Her love and concern for the lives of farm animals and the future of our environment led to the development of The Green Eaters. Jennifer's mission is to improve the lives of others through her talents, creativity, intuition and knowledge.

Jennifer also designed The Green Eaters as a part of her organic baby/toddler clothing line, Chapter One Organics. Chapter One Organics clothing is made in the U.S. by a manufacturer that trains women facing significant barriers to employment. These individuals learn sewing skills, earn a living wage, learn productive work habits, establish careers, and begin their Chapter One.

Publisher: Trafford Publishing

Published in: November 2007

What it is about: This is the story of five farm animals - Gertie the cow, Curly the pig, Bailey the sheep, Franzy the horse and Plucky the chick. They live in a Dreary Day factory farm and dream of a better future, where they will be able to enjoy the simple pleasures of life like roaming in the green grass (Gertie), fresh grains (Bailey) and even just a nice brush of the mane (Franzy). One day they're all being transferred to an organic farm (The Green Eaters Farm), where, as you can expect, their wishes come true.

Why you should get it: I don't have children yet, but I'm very soon going to become a father and I'm already looking for green stories that would fit babies and this book is a great fit. I find it a fun story, written in rhymes, that helps to simplify and explain young kids the very important issue of organic living and the difference between the life of animals in factory farms and in organic farms. Babies may not be able to fully understand these issues, but for sure they will enjoy the great pictures of Mary Deaton.

I agree with the author who said in an interview that it's important for children to be introduced to this topic "because the children of today are our future" - I think it's a fun and sensitive book that helps kids to get some sense of the issue, which hopefully will be a base for further learning of these issue as they grow up.

The book reports that it is printed using solar and wind power with a minimum use of 30% recycled paper. Also, all of The Green Eaters books purchased through their site and their retailers (except Amazon) are balanced out with Eco-Libris!

What others say about it:
"Reconnecting to Mother Earth and all she has to offer can be made fun through the lens of a child, more specifically in child-like wonder. Miracle workers all have one thing in common; they operate from child-like wonder. It will take miracles to come through many people, to help people stop all the polluting we do; polluting our bodies, our water, our soil, and the planet. The Green Eaters - A Dream Comes True is written in child-like wonder. This is a great book to help people start to heal the way we farm, eat, and generally look at things. God bless Jennifer and her farm friends for bringing light into our lives." Greg Christian, Owner and Chef, Greg Christian Catering, www.gregchristian.com Founder, Organic School Project, www.organicschoolproject.org

“The Green Eaters – A Dream Comes True offers a simple, fun and positive message for children about organic farming!"Harmony Susalla, Founder and Creative Director, Harmony Art , www.harmonyart.com

Check out the book's website - http://www.thegreeneaters.com/, and if you're looking for other interesting green books, you are invited to check out our green books page on our website's green resources section.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!