Book Review - Dugong Meadow
Reviewed by Harriet Lewin, Vegan Voice magazine
If you are a vegan parent (or an aunt, uncle, grandparent) who wants to help your child to develop a sense of wonder at the world we share with other animals, then you will know that finding picture books, indeed any books for children, that encourage the vegan ethic is difficult to say the least. However, the following book The Dugong Meadow (reviewed by Vegan Voice), is one such book. It is written and illustrated by Naomi Mairou, a vegan and passionate animal rights advocate.
In 2003 the book won The Children's Book Council of Australia Crichton Award and in the same year it was also shortlisted for The Environment Award for Children's Literature.
It is available at good bookstores (RRP $14.95 [2004] ).
"The book came about as an extension of something I was already involved in, a local campaign to help secure better protection for marine ecosystems. Modern commercial fishing practices are exceedingly cruel and incredibly destructive - a prawn trawler working over a patch of the ocean floor, using nets weighted by heavy chains that are dragged over the ocean floor, can remove just about every living thing in just a number of passes. This includes all sessile life like sponges and corals, and an incredible array of non-target species, including juveniles of many species, endangered marine reptiles like turtles, many species of sharks, rays, the lot. Fishermen have a brutal euphemism for the non-target species that kind of sums up their view on the whole thing - they call these animals 'trash' - and they are dumped back into the sea either dead or in the process of dying after going through the sorting tray on deck. Basically, if an animal has no monetary worth then its survival or death is of absolutely no consequence... but that is no different to the way in which humans view terrestrial animals either."
THE DUGONG MEADOW
Written and Illustrated by Naomi Mairou
Trapdoor Press, ISBN 0958098204, RRP $14.95 (2004)
Reviewed by Harriet Lewin, Vegan Voice magazine
"The tranquil seagrass meadow seems a safe place for Gentle Dugong to live and play. Until the day something rumbles ominously overhead..."
The Dugong Meadow is the story of Gentle Dugong and his friends, and of how their lives are affected by the intrusion of humans. The large-format book was a pleasure to receive and an absolute honour to review.
This beautiful and poignant children's book has minimal text - but what there is tells a sublimely moving story - accompanied by the author's own glorious paintings. Mairou lives by the ocean, and she says that the encounters she has had with the creatures who call the sea home are some of her most cherished moments. "It is my fervent wish that other people might come to view marine animals (indeed all animals) as beings with lives as complex and valuable as their own," she says.
I can't really, with mere words, do this book justice. You have to see the paintings. They are simply sumptuous, the glossy pages vibrant and alive with all the creatures of the sea. It is obvious that the author has produced The Dugong Meadow from the heart, such a labour of love is it. I was moved to tears by its beauty.
The Dugong Meadow is recommended for 7-10 year olds. If you're looking for a present for a special child, look no further. This is a book to treasure.
Review published courtesy of Vegan Voice magazine.
