The National Central Library in Taiwan is scheduled to host a two-day carnival in Taipei next month as part of the annual Taiwan Reading Festival and feature books presented by Taiwan’s diplomatic allies for the first time, the library has said.

The first day of the carnival at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park on Dec. 3 is to have music performances, arts and crafts, storytelling presented by the embassies of St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis, and Belize, the library said at a press conference.

St Vincent and the Grenadines Ambassador to Taiwan, Andrea Bowman said that her country’s booths at the carnival are to feature three trained Vincentian teachers of English based in Taiwan, reading aloud books by Vincentian authors.

They would use “excerpts from the books to say something about St Vincent and the Grenadines and to entice the children as well, so we are going to have hands-on children’s activities,” Bowman said.

“We’re going to have the children engage with the text in various ways, maybe drawing, getting ideas and magic from reading.”

St Kitts and Nevis Ambassador to Taiwan, Donya Francis said his embassy’s booth would feature English books written by leading authors in his country to give Taiwanese a clearer understanding of the Caribbean country, and its culture and heritage.

“I can tell you I have travelled to many places, not by plane and not by boat, but by reading books. So I want people to take a trip to our country via reading books, and embrace this new world and open a promising future,” Francis said.

Belize Ambassador to Taiwan, Candice Pitts said that when Taiwanese children visit her embassy’s booth, they would also be taken on a journey to her country through literature.

The books “introduce them to our national symbols, our national trees, our national birds, our national animals, our national anthem and our national flag,” Pitts said.

“They have a way of comparing and juxtaposing those national items to those of Taiwan, so it’s a very interesting learning experience for them.”

The carnival will continue through Dec. 4 in areas surrounding the library with talks by iconic actors and authors, the library director-general Tseng Shu-hsien said.

The Taiwan Reading Festival, which is typically held on the first weekend of December, had 50,000 to 70,000 visitors last year, and Tseng said it could draw as many as 100,000 visitors this year(Taipei Times).

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