Bibliography

Before I go into bento books, here's a book that I wrote and published in 2010 and of which I'm a little proud :) (so I'll present it first!)
"The vegan Boulangerie: The best of Traditional French Baking, Egg and Dairy-Free"

This project was born from my own need for vegan baking recipes. Being French (and vegan), I needed serious recipes for baking things like croissant, pain au chocolat, gâteau, galette des rois etc, in short all the delicious things you can find in French bakeries and with which I grew up :)! So I wrote this little book, adapting all the classics into their vegan versions.

The book has 6 sections:
-Breads
-Basic doughs and crèmes
-Coffee time (biscuits)
-Teat-time treats
-Desserts
-Savoury recipes
Here is the amazon.uk page (also on amazon.com, fr, etc):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vegan-Boulangerie-Traditional-Baking-Dairy-free/dp/1426926596/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

If you read all the reviews of this book that were published on the web, you'll see that there are those who LOVE it, and those who think some recipes are not faithfull enough to the originals. As a disclaimer, I will just say that to me, being able to recreate all these recipes without animal products is good enough to be a little tolerant. Vegan choux pastry (I tried and retried the recipe 100 times for it to work) was especially tricky and it's a little discouraging to see that some will insist that the choux don't look exactly like the egg-based originals. Oh well, at least many readers were enthralled by the recipes of palmiers, kouign amann (the slightly salty speciality from Brittany), or the dozens of traditional French breads.
All I can say is try it and see for yourself :)!

And now here are the books that helped me take my first steps into Bentoworld and that I continue to browse for inspiration! None of these books are specifically vegan or even vegetarian, but _as often_ all recipes can easily be turned vegan.

Yum-Yum Bento Box. Fresh recipes for adorable lunches by Crystal Watanabe & Maki Ogawa.

This book is all about super cute bento! The authors also added a small section at the beginning about techniques that can be used in any bento to create original shapes and textures. There is a good introduction about the tradition of bento in Japan, the necessary equipment etc. The focus of this book is really on charaben (character-bento), with each of their creations representing characters from popular children's stories, Japanese folklore or from the authors' own imagination!
You can see the amazon page at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1594744475/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

For French readers:
Mes beaux bentos by Mélanie Montagné.

A lovely little book with original recipes (a lot of which for making charaben), plenty of information and advice about bento-making and a very clear and fresh presentation!
The author is French. She started making bento after having a baby and feeling it would help her lose the extra weight she had put on while pregnant. She has been mad about making bento since then and has made her dream come true when she got this book published!
Have a look at it on amazon at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mes-beaux-bentos-M%C3%A9lanie-Montagn%C3%A9/dp/2845676433

For French readers again:
Mes petits bento sains et gourmands! by Laure Kié.

My first book on bento! I really love the variety in this book. After a classic and clear introduction, you will find all sorts of bento recipes. Not just charaben, or just traditional designs...a little bit of everything! One recipe will help you make an all-green bento, another a traditional kaiseki (traditional multi-course meal) bento, an another a very graphic bento with little cubes of coloured rice, vegetable mousses etc. From bento around the seasons, sushi bento or even Chinese bento, this book offers a really wide range of styles and recipes. And everything in the book is well presented, just like the author's bento!
The author was born in Tokyo from a Japanese mother and a French father. She combines in her book both the Japanese and the French art of cooking! See more details at:
http://www.amazon.ca/MES-PETITS-BENTO-SAINS-GOURMANDS/dp/2501062086

Happy Reading!!