《TAIPEI TIMES》 Children’s book promotes all-out national defense

By Aaron Tu / Staff reporter

Taiwanese publisher ECUS Publishing House （木馬文化） published Taiwan’s first national defense-themed picture book for children, echoing the government’s policies on all-out national defense.

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The book titled Children’s First Picture Book to Learn About Soldiers: The Sea and Air Heroes Who Protect Taiwan’s Territory （孩子的第一本認識軍人繪本：守護台灣領土的海空英雄） tells the story of a military family.

The protagonist, An-an （安安）, is a third-grader in elementary school. His cousin is an air force pilot flying a Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter jet and his father is a navy captain operating a missile patrol ship.

Although An-an knows little about their jobs, he admires his cousin and father because they are always proud of being in the military.

They tell An-an that honesty, being unafraid of difficulties and the spirit of cooperation are the characteristics of good soldiers.

The book, authored by Wang Chih-kai （王致凱） and illustrated by Chen En-min （沈恩民）, was the brainchild of the editorial team at ECUS Publishing House, a part of the Book Republic Publishing Group.

To present a more realistic look into military practices, the editorial team conducted on-site interviews with combat training officers and Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter pilot Chiang Ching-hua （蔣青樺） at the air force base in Hsinchu City, and with Lieutenant Cheng Yao-fu （鄭堯夫）, the deputy captain of the Hsiang Chiang （湘江艦） patrol vessel at the Weihai Naval Base （威海營區） in Keelung, the editorial team said.

With Mandarin “bopomofo” phonetic symbols, the book aims to introduce children of preschool to primary-school age to soldiers’ tasks, as well as the concepts of a territorial sea and airspace, which could help them acquire the core competencies of the all-out defense education established in the “108 curriculum,” the team said.

The story is told from a child’s point of view in the hope that it could resonate with young readers and provide them with an understanding of the hardship of military training and the dangers of facing an enemy, they said.

Taiwan has long been in a very sensitive strategic position, so maintaining national security and stability is a very important issue, they said.

Few books introduce children to national defense and the armed forces due to the confidentiality involved, which creates an impression of the topic being mysterious and difficult to understand, they said.

As the tensions in the Taiwan Strait have gradually escalated in recent years, the government has been promoting all-out defense education in schools, they said.

The interviews for the book were conducted with the permission of the Ministry of National Defense, they said.

Through the children-friendly story, the team hopes to convey the message that soldiers are ordinary people who receive extensive training to be able to protect their country.

Thanks to their constant protection, Taiwanese are able to enjoy a stable life, they added.

By building an awareness of national defense from an early age, children would grow to have respect and aspirations for military personnel, they said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES