Today (December 13), the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (FANCA) and Hoi Toy & Play Corporation presented several new textured products for wood-related education with rich forest elements, including the picture book
Xiao Yuan,
a Taiwan Barbet that Lives in the Forest, the reference book
Living a Wood-Related Education and Lifestyle with Your Baby, as well as toys such as “MU Blocks,” the “Pat Bells Shelf,” and “Xylophone of the Forest.” These new wood-related education products are not only pleasing to the eye, they also teach children while they have fun. These products enable children and adults to learn about the beauty of forests and understand correct forest conservation concepts at the same time by touching and experiencing the warmth of wooden products and the natural aroma of different types of wood. We welcome everyone to support sustainable forest management by taking practical actions to make the earth better!
The main products in this presentation include:
Picture book Xiao Yuan, a Taiwan Barbet that Lives in the Forest:
It was illustrated by Lin Lian-En , the winner of the first prize in the fiction category of the BolognaRagazzi Award (BRAW). After observing different colors, patterns, and tree species, she used reusable materials, such as paper, leaves, and tree bark, to collage each image, enabling readers to see the changes in the forest and the forest’s everlasting ecological cycle with Xiao Yuan, a Taiwan barbet. Children above 9 years old can try to read the book by themselves, while children from 5 to 8 years old are suggested to read the book with their families.
Reference book Living a Wood-Related Education and Lifestyle with Your Baby:
It is a knowledge-based book by the Tokyo Toy Museum translated from Japanese. Through this book, people can explore how Japan encourages children to gradually connect with wood-related education. We also specially published the separate volume Taiwan’s Wood-Related Education and Lifestyle to enable the public to learn about Taiwan’s trees and wood, as well as bamboo products in daily life through cute illustrations. Furthermore, people can quickly pick up knowledge related to forests through special knowledge enhancement sections.
“MU Blocks”:
This product was designed by Shih En-Hui, adopting the concept of stacking and combining the Chinese character “木” (wood) to form “林” (forest) and "森林" (forest). It is suitable for children above 2 years old; they can improve their hand-eye coordination and train their hand muscles to make delicate movements through several playing methods while stacking or arranging these building blocks. They are made from six types of domestic timber, namely Taiwania, Japanese fir, Taiwan white pine, mahogany, camphor wood, and Formosan ash. As soon as they open the box, children can compare the differences between these timbers and appreciate their charm.
Lin Hwa-Ching, Director General of the FANCA, mentioned that since the official declaration of the “Year of Domestic Timber” in 2017, the FANCA has focused on sustainable forestry management as a policy priority. The FANCA has continually promoted productive forest plantation thinning operations, and helped enhance the technology and product manufacturing capabilities of the forestry industry. It is hoped that through these wood-related education products, which were carefully and delicately designed, more members of the public can learn about and understand forest conservation and forestry operations, as well as the importance and value of domestic timber. Joe T.C. Hsieh, general manager of Hoi Toy & Play Corporation, mentioned that expanding the application of domestic timber is an important goal of promoting wood-related education. Through innovative wood-related education products, beginning with the education and consumer sector, we can raise awareness about the significance of wood and its vital role in carbon sequestration. By doing so, we can increase the positioning of wood products and collaborate with wood-related education partners to jointly expand the domestic timber industry, thereby allowing the public to enjoy higher quality domestic timber.
The new products mentioned in this presentation are now available for purchase through the website “
Forestpass”, as well as other online or physical stores of the Government Books Store, Wu Nan Books, and Hsin Yi Little Sun Family Bookstore.