Green book review: A Lion's Mane by Navjot Kaur

Today we review a green book that not only is printed on recycled paper (50% PCW) and processed chlorine-free, but also goes green with Eco-Libris - 625 trees are planted with us for the first edition of this beautiful book.

Our book today is:

A Lion's Mane

Author: Navjot Kaur

Born and raised in England and of Sikh-Panjabi heritage, Navjot Kaur has always found ways to identify with her environments. During her academic years, she unearthed valuable insights into the connections between 17th century Spanish Literature with that of the Panjabi Classics. Experiences across these diverse cultural borders have enriched her sense of global citizenry; forging her forward not only as an author, but also, as an educator and mother.

Having already led diversity initiatives within her schools, A Lion's Mane is her first children's book, a story that contextualizes the many connections we share as global citizens. Navjot is a member of the Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators and currently resides in Canada with her husband and son.

Illustrator: Jaspreet Sandhu

Publisher: Saffron Press

Published on: September 2009

What this book is about? (from the publisher's website)

In this beautifully illustrated story, young readers journey to cultures around the world to explore the meaning of the dastaar, or turban of the Sikhs. Allusive words placed within a vibrant red dastaar help promote our connections as global citizens and encourage dialogue around issues of identity and kinship. A Lion's Mane promises to be a staple on the shelves of all young visionaries.

Here's the book's trailer:

What we think about it?

This is a beautiful book. Literally. Not only the content and message of the book are simply beautiful and moving, but also the marvelous illustrations of Jaspreet Sandhu that gives you the feeling that you're looking into an art work and not just a book.

This book is dealing with Sikh identity, but anyone and especially kids, who come from a different background of their surroundings, will easily identify with the hero's quest for meaning and understanding of his place in the cultural circles that he belongs to. His acceptance and pride eventually in his uniqueness are actually not the end of his journey, but just the beginning.

Although this journey that follows the winding red dastar (turban) may be demanding and requires the reader's full concentration, it's definitely rewarding. At at the end of the book, you might even find yourself smiling and having a moment of optimism, as this book is filled with a positive spirit that is definitely contagious.

Bottom Line: Beautiful and meaningful book!

Disclosure: We received a copy of this book from the author.

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

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Vegan, Vegan, Vegan, Vegan, Small Business and one more Vegan!

No, this is not a guest list or a sophisticated code - these are the subjects of the books we're giving now on our green gifts giveaway!

Yes, we have five great vegan books and one great book on greening up small businesses that we're giving away as gifts on our green gift campaign! Not only that these are great and valuable books, but they're also printed on recycled or FSC-certified paper!

So who gets them? It's very simple - if you balance out 50 books, you can choose one of these “green” books as a gift. Customers will be offered to choose from a list of 5-6 books that will be changing occasionally.

The books offered are books that participated in Eco-Libris green books campaign last November that promoted responsibly printed books. You can see the list of books currently offered at http://www.ecolibris.net/gifts.asp

What do you need to do to get this gift? Choose a book from the list and Email us its name after you complete the purchase on the take action page, or enter it in the comments box during the payment process.

Here are some more details on the "green" books you can choose from:

Raw for Dessert: Easy Delights for Everyone

Author: Jennifer Cornbleet

Now you can have your cake and eat it too! You can stay vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, kosher, or just plain health-conscious and still eat delicious cakes, pies, compotes, crumbles, custards, sorbets, ice creams, cookies, and candies. All raw!

Here are Jennifer's favorite no-bake, no-guilt treats. You'll learn to avoid white sugar, white flour, dairy products, trans-fats, saturated fats, and processed foods. And you'll be able to make easy-to-follow recipes for a reasonable amount of money, in a reasonable amount of time.

Some of the delectable desserts perfect for every occasion are: Summer Berry Compote, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Chocolate Cupcakes, Crème Brulée, Lemon Tart, Pumpkin Pie, and Knockout Brownie Sundae. Gorgeous color photos provide all the inspiration you need.

Greening Your Small Business: How to Improve Your Bottom Line, Grow Your Brand, Satisfy Your Customers - and Save the Planet

Author: Jennifer Kaplan

The ultimate resource for small business owners who want to go green without going broke. Greening Your Small Business is the definitive resource for those who want their small businesses to be cutting- edge, competitive, profitable, and eco-conscious. Filled with stories from small business owners of all stripes, Greening Your Small Business addresses every aspect of going green, from basics such as recycling, reducing waste, energy efficiency, and reducing the IT footprint, to more in-depth concerns such as green marketing and communications, green business travel, and green employee benefits.

For companies too small to hire consultants to draft and implement green policies and practices, this guide is designed for easy use, featuring:
• Simple ways to make the workplace greener
• Two plans of action for going green (divided into two levels)
• Definitions for green terminology and jargon

Local Bounty: Seasonal Vegan Recipes

Author: Devra Gartenstein

The marriage of vegan foods and seasonal produce is a natural one: plant-based foods follow annual cycles and both are healthy and environmentally sustainable. Ripe local produce has the most flavor and nutritional value, uses fewer resources to store and deliver, is more economical to buy, and often supports local farmers.

Local Bounty reintroduces the world of seasonal produce: leafy greens in the spring, tomatoes, peppers, and summer squash during the summer and fall, and root vegetables and winter squash during the cooler months. The bounty of the garden is transformed into wonderful meals that will truly nourish and satisfy with a minimum of fuss to prepare. Real food, real taste.

The Simple Little Vegan Dog Book, Cruelty-Free Recipes for Canine

Author: Michelle Rivera

The Simple Little Vegan Dog Book by animal rights advocate Michelle Rivera shows how your companion canine can become a satisfied omnivore. This compendium of nutritious, plant-based recipes provide the nutrients your dog needs in order to maintain good health as well as the flavors they love according to the enthusiastic response from pets being fed this diet.

Although vegans will now be able to extend their lifestyle to include what they feed their dogs, you needn't be a vegan or vegetarian to profit from this information. Most dog owners are concerned about the quality of ingredients in commercial dog food.

Sweet Utopia, Simply Stunning Vegan Desserts

Author: Sharon Valencik

Sweet Utopia shows how to create the luscious flavors and familiar textures of traditional desserts without the use of eggs or dairy. These easy-to-make, yet sensational, desserts are all lactose- and cholesterol-free and perfect for vegans, anyone allergic to dairy or eggs, those who need to watch their intake of saturated fat, and last, but not least, lovers of sweets everywhere.

These recipes cover a wide array of goodies including cakes, cookies, pies, puddings, and other treats and are accompanied by over 130 full-color photos that provide inspiration and anticipation.

Tofu Cookery (25th Anniversary Edition)

Author: Louise Hagler

TOFU COOKERY 25th Anniversary Edition celebrates a quarter of a century of helping people prepare delicious dishes featuring tofu. Since then, tofu has become a household word, the health benefits of soy have been validated by thousands of scientific studies, and a goldmine of soy products can be found in supermarkets nationwide.

The best tofu dishes, however, can still be made at home. Soy-foods pioneer Louise Hagler expertly shows how easy it is to add a little tofu to both your favorite comfort foods and gourmet fare. To reflect today's tastes and trends, new recipes were added and the original recipes revised to use less salt and smaller amounts of more healthful fats. The latest cooking methods preserve nutrients as well as flavor.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Karen Finneyrock's new collection of poetry is going green with Eco-Libris!

Karen Finneyfrock is releasing a new book entitled “Ceremony for the Choking Ghost”. And this a stellar collection of poetry is going green with Eco-Libris!

This book is published by Write Bloody Publishing, which is collaborating with Eco-Libris to plant trees for the books it publishes. Last September we worked with Write Bloody Publishing to plant a tree for every printed copy of the LAST TIME as WE ARE by Taylor Mali, and now a tree will be planted for every printed copy of “Ceremony for the Choking Ghost”!

After losing her sister to heart failure, Karen Finneyfrock was unable to write poems for three years. Her voice came back, whispering at first and then screaming. “Ceremony for the Choking Ghost” contains the sound of that voice returning, bringing poems about grief and its effect on the body, the body politic, memory, and, of course, poems about love. Half poetry, half exorcism, her book calls to all of our ghosts.

in Gomorrah? When you were still beardless,

and I would oil my hair in the lamp light before seeing

you, when we were young, and blushed with youth

like bruised fruit. Did we care then

what our neighbors did

in the dark?

When our first daughter was born

on the River Jordan, when our second

cracked her pink head from my body

like a promise, did we worry

what our friends might be

doing with their tongues?

What new crevices they found

to lick love into or strange flesh

to push pleasure from, when we

called them Sodomites then,

all we meant by it

was neighbor.

When the angels told us to run

from the city, I went with you,

but even the angels knew

that women always look back.

Let me describe for you, Lot,

what your city looked like burning

since you never turned around to see it.

Sulfur ran its sticky fingers over the skin

of our countrymen. It smelled like burning hair

and rancid eggs. I watched as our friends pulled

chunks of brimstone from their faces. Is any form

of loving this indecent?

Cover your eyes tight,

husband, until you see stars, convince

yourself you are looking at Heaven.

Because any man weak enough to hide his eyes while his neighbors

are punished for the way they love deserves a vengeful god.

I would say these things to you now, Lot,

but an ocean has dried itself on my tongue.

So instead I will stand here, while my body blows itself

grain by grain back over the Land of Canaan.

I will stand here

and I will watch you

run.

Here's a Sample Poem from “Ceremony for the Choking Ghost” (from Writebloody Publishing's website):

WHAT LOT’S WIFE WOULD HAVE SAID
(IF SHE WASN’T A PILLAR OF SALT)

Do you remember when we met
in Gomorrah? When you were still beardless,
and I would oil my hair in the lamp light before seeing
you, when we were young, and blushed with youth
like bruised fruit. Did we care then
what our neighbors did
in the dark?

When our first daughter was born
on the River Jordan, when our second
cracked her pink head from my body
like a promise, did we worry
what our friends might be
doing with their tongues?

What new crevices they found
to lick love into or strange flesh
to push pleasure from, when we
called them Sodomites then,
all we meant by it
was neighbor.

When the angels told us to run
from the city, I went with you,
but even the angels knew
that women always look back.
Let me describe for you, Lot,
what your city looked like burning
since you never turned around to see it.

Sulfur ran its sticky fingers over the skin
of our countrymen. It smelled like burning hair
and rancid eggs. I watched as our friends pulled
chunks of brimstone from their faces. Is any form
of loving this indecent?

Cover your eyes tight,
husband, until you see stars, convince
yourself you are looking at Heaven.

Because any man weak enough to hide his eyes while his neighbors
are punished for the way they love deserves a vengeful god.

I would say these things to you now, Lot,
but an ocean has dried itself on my tongue.
So instead I will stand here, while my body blows itself
grain by grain back over the Land of Canaan.
I will stand here
and I will watch you
run.

The book is available at Writebloody Publishing's store - http://writebloody.com/store/index.html

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Check our green gift campaign!

Tree planting in Malawi - a new video of our planting partner, RIPPLE Africa

Our friends at RIPPLE Africa are completing these days another planting season of trees in Malawi, Africa.

They have published a very powerful video last month on the deforestation problems that Malawi is facing (In Malawi an area of forest the size of a football pitch is cut down every 10 minutes!) and the work RIPPLE Africa is doing with local communities to fight it.

The goal of their reforestation efforts is to plant and grow millions of trees every year and to "train, educate and empower the local communities to sustainably manage their environment to reduce poverty". We are proud to partner with RIPPLE Africa and support these goals and we hope you'll enjoy this video.

More details on RIPPLE Africa are available on their website - http://www.rippleafrica.org/. More information on our work with RIPPLE Africa can be found on our partners' page and on their annual assessments.



Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Check out our green gift giveaway!

Green Gifts Campaign - the first video is online!

Last Monday we started our green gift campaign, where we give great gifts that promote green reading! From free green books to gift cards for Strand Bookstore and BookSwim, the Netflix for books, Eco-Libris is now rewarding readers who balance out 25 books or more by planting trees.

To get the word out there we decided to get a big star that will help us promoting the campaign with a couple of funny videos. After holding auditions for several days, we've found our man! Actually we've found our baby..

Yes, my beautiful baby Shira was chosen to star in a couple of funny videos promoting the campaign and we hope you will enjoy them. If you do, please pass them along (embedding code can be found below. The video's link on YouTube is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf3yljv4PV8)

More information can be found on the campaign's webpage - http://www.ecolibris.net/gifts.asp

The press release of the campaign, with its logo, is available at http://prlog.org/10524166

The announcement on our blog - http://ecolibris.blogspot.com/2010/02/new-campaign-is-rewarding-green-readers.html

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting Sustainable Reading!

Going green with sustainable reading next week on the Jazzy Vegetarian Show!

The Jazzy Vegetarian Show is a very cool online radio show, hosted by Laura Theodore (who is also the author of Green Entertaining) and I'm going to participate in it next week, on Wednesday (Feb 17) 1:00 PM.

The Jazzy Vegetarian Show focuses on accessible, healthy, and delicious recipes, eco-entertaining tips, celebrity interviews, and upbeat music, served up with a bit of fun on the side! On the show next week, I'll be talking about ways to green up your reading and our new campaign we launched to reward green readers.

Another guest on the show will be Rick Diamond whose work involves promoting raw, vegetarian

, vegan, and alternative health books at the Book Publishing Company (now, by the way, you can get some of their books for free on our green gift campaign!)

Here are more details on the show from the Jazzy Vegetarian's website: Today, the Jazzy Vegetarian is talking about ways to help lower your carbon footprint by practicing sustainable reading. We’ll chat with Raz Godelnik, CEO of Eco-Libris , about ways to green up our reading. Founded in 2007, Eco-Libris is a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books.

To achieve these goals Eco-Libris is working with book readers, publishers, authors, bookstores and others in the book industry worldwide. Eco-Libris aims to raise awareness to the environmental impacts of using paper for the production of books and provide people and businesses with an affordable and easy way to do something about it: plant one tree for every book they read, sell or publish.

We’ll also welcome Rick Diamond whose work involves promoting raw, vegetarian

, vegan, and alternative health books at the Book Publishing Company. Book Publishing Company is a community owned, independent press dedicated to publishing books that promote a healthful and sustainable lifestyle.

You can listen to the show on Wednesday on this webpage - www.blogtalkradio.com/the-jazzy-vegetarian/2010/02/17/going-green-with-sustainable-reading

I hope you'll enjoy the show!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting green reading

10 Tips for an Environmentally Responsible Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day doesn't have to mean a box of commercially produced chocolates or an expensive dinner out. Get inspired with these ten meaningful ideas from RecycleBank blogger Jessica Harlan.

If you'd like to celebrate Valentine's Day in a way that's less commercial, more environmentally responsible, and infinitely more meaningful, let these ideas inspire you.

1. Make a fancy dinner at home. Spend some time in advance pouring over your favorite recipe books or searching recipe sites for elegant, lavish choices that you wouldn't ordinarily splurge on. To make it even more special, treat yourself to a bottle of nice wine or Champagne, start out with a course of fantastic artisanal cheeses, and make or buy a decadent dessert. Be sure to buy all the groceries a day or two in advance and allow enough time to be able to cook together in a leisurely manner – sharing in the cooking process is half the fun. Pull out your fine china and linens, then light some candles to set the mood.

2. Give a living plant instead of cut flowers. A dozen red roses are a quintessential Valentine's gift, but they're not exactly good news for the environment - the flowers could be heavily sprayed with pesticides and other chemicals (bad news for you and the workers who pick and handle the flowers.) Many are flown from South Africa or Latin America, travel that uses resources and causes pollution. Instead, find an eco-friendly florist or garden shop and give your sweetie a living plant that will stay green long after those red roses wilt.

3. Make your own truffles. Don't waste your money on fancy commercial chocolate brands – instead, head to the kitchen and make your own truffles. Recipes can easily be found online for a delicious, thoughtful gift that also helps the earth.

4. Or, buy chocolate responsibly. If playing chocolatier in your own kitchen is beyond your skill set, try to do a little research and find sweets that are organic, fair-trade and made locally so you're supporting small business people in your community.

5. Shop for gifts at thrift and antique stores. Your local flea markets, thrift stores or even eBay can be a treasure trove of one-of-a-kind, meaningful gifts for your honey. Look for vintage purses, a pretty glass vase, or some beaded necklaces that you can take apart to make your own personalized piece.

6. Take a jewelry making class to make a handcrafted bauble. If you plan far enough in advance, you can take a jewelry making class (or, for the time-pressed, even a one time only afternoon workshop) so that you can make a piece that's truly unique and from the heart. Look online for a class and you might even find someone who teaches you about giving new life to old objects, like this one taught at New York City jewelry store Lunessa.

7. Splurging on a diamond? Go conflict free. Most commercial diamonds are mined in ways that harm the environment and the workers. If you are going to splurge on a diamond, make sure it's a conflict-free gem. There are plenty of eco-responsible jewelers, such as Green Karat who specialize in recycled precious metals and responsibly mined sparklers.

8. Create a home spa experience. Instead of a gift certificate to a fancy spa, create a luxurious spa experience in your own home. Find recipes for homemade bath salts, scrubs or facials, then light some candles and put on some Sade.

9. Make your own Valentines. Whether they're for your child's classmates or for friends and loved ones, making your own valentines can be a satisfying way to use the things you've been hoarding, such as scraps of fabric and ribbons, random buttons, and old greeting cards and magazines. Gather up all the materials you think you might need, buy some construction paper or card stock at your supermarket, and get to work.

10. Go risqué responsibly. Looking for some sexy underthings to spice up your night? Stay away from synthetic fabrics like polyester satin, and seek out lingerie made from natural and environmentally responsible fabrics like bamboo, organic cotton, hemp and silk. Green Cheeks Boutique has romantic options ranging from colorful thongs made from silk remnants to lace-trimmed, organic cotton babydolls.

These tips can also be found at RecycleBank.com (http://www.recyclebank.com/live-green/lifestyle-cat/469)