Does anyone know where I might find a book in English that tells the English names of local plant and insect life? My son is always asking me what things are called and I have absolutely no idea.
Make it two!
I have a very good one on birds and another on plants and trees. Unfortunately they’re in Chinese, but they have very good illustrations and photos, plus the Linnaean taxonomy (very useful for later Googling for in-depth Intarweb information), plus the common name in English, plus distribution maps.
Better than nothing. At least you can tell the nipper what things are called.
[quote=“sandman”]I have a very good one on birds and another on plants and trees. Unfortunately they’re in Chinese, but they have very good illustrations and photos, plus the Linnaean taxonomy (very useful for later Googling for in-depth Intarweb information), plus the common name in English, plus distribution maps.
Better than nothing. At least you can tell the nipper what things are called.[/quote]
are you putting it on the block then??
[quote=“jdsmith”][quote=“sandman”]I have a very good one on birds and another on plants and trees. Unfortunately they’re in Chinese, but they have very good illustrations and photos, plus the Linnaean taxonomy (very useful for later Googling for in-depth Intarweb information), plus the common name in English, plus distribution maps.
Better than nothing. At least you can tell the nipper what things are called.[/quote]
are you putting it on the block then??[/quote]
No, but they’re still both in print and I’ll try to remember to post the relevant info here.
[quote=“sandman”][quote=“jdsmith”][quote=“sandman”]I have a very good one on birds and another on plants and trees. Unfortunately they’re in Chinese, but they have very good illustrations and photos, plus the Linnaean taxonomy (very useful for later Googling for in-depth Intarweb information), plus the common name in English, plus distribution maps.
Better than nothing. At least you can tell the nipper what things are called.[/quote]
are you putting it on the block then??[/quote]
No, but they’re still both in print and I’ll try to remember to post the relevant info here.[/quote]
cool…I’ll hound you until you do…my son is driving me nuts with this bug stuff…he must think I’m an idiot…
“You always say they’re beetles!” 
[quote=“jdsmith”]cool…I’ll hound you until you do…my son is driving me nuts with this bug stuff…he must think I’m an idiot…
“You always say they’re beetles!” [/quote]
Heh… that’s my answer for everything too! Unless it’s tiny and flying. Then it’s a mosquito.
Well, at least now I know I’m not the only one. We’ve been borrowing children’s books about insects in English from the Small World library near Da-An Park, but there are about 50 billion insects in the world, and only a few of the ones we see in Taiwan are in there (mostly beetles!)…but at least it’s better than nothing. I really wish there was something specific to Taiwan. Even in the museums and zoo there’s usually only the Chinese name and the scientific name, which is not exactly English.
Here’s a picture of the two books. Note that the publisher of the one about trees also has one on insects. Hope this helps. I’ve seen both of these books in the Dunhua S. Rd. Eslite store.
If you need publisher info you’ll need to wait until Sunday.
I bought a pretty good book at the Science Museum in Taichung last year. Also, I know Almas John mentioned the taipei city gio office had come out with some books a year or two ago. Have you people checked Eslite and Page One?
The visitor centre in Yangmingshan is also supposed to have a beautiful picture book on the plants and animals of that park.
Also, somewhere on Forumosa I listed a government website that showed the flora and fauna at different altitudes (which usualy create different ecological zones in this country). But I can’t seem to find it.
Here’s the site:
gio.gov.tw/info/ecology/Engl … ex_e01.htm
And here’s a thread where Iris lists a host of other online resources:
[forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph … nts#308415](Taiwan's native animals
If you have the scientific name just do a google search to find the common name.
As Mucha Man said there are many nice books in the stores here. They have lots of pictures and the scientific (i.e. Latin) names. Googling these will get you common names and some basic info.
As well as books, there are some lovely posters available. Once again, any decent one will have the Latin names.
I highly recommend the bird book in sandman’s picture. That’s a must-have for any bird-watching enthusiast in Taiwan! I use it all the time when I go on ecological surveys here.
If you have the scientific name just do a google search to find the common name.[/quote]
This might work for an older child who can delay gratification and is interested in a particular insect/animal/plant, but is not too much help with a four year old sprinting from specimen to specimen asking “What’s that? What’s that? What’s that? What’s that?”
It would be nice to have pictures with the common English name right below it.
Thanks for all the info everyone has posted! I’ll definitely check these out…
nyteacher [quote]This might work for an older child who can delay gratification and is interested in a particular insect/animal/plant, but is not too much help with a four year old sprinting from specimen to specimen asking “What’s that? What’s that? What’s that? What’s that?”
It would be nice to have pictures with the common English name right below it.[/quote]
The obvious thing is to google all the common names and write them in the local field guides before you go out and see the creatures. I know it’s a hassle.
Happy Dragon Boat Festival 
If you have the scientific name just do a google search to find the common name.[/quote]
This might work for an older child who can delay gratification and is interested in a particular insect/animal/plant, but is not too much help with a four year old sprinting from specimen to specimen asking “What’s that? What’s that? What’s that? What’s that?”
It would be nice to have pictures with the common English name right below it.
Thanks for all the info everyone has posted! I’ll definitely check these out…[/quote]
Some nature trails have good interpretation signs in English and Chinese. I was quite impressed with the info on the Tsaoling historic trail near Fulong. In an hour you can see half dozen or more signs. And unlike in museums, you can reach out and touch the plants in front of you.
There’s a bookstore on Hoping East Road, on the south-west side of Shin-sheng and Hoping intersection (“kitty corner” to Daan Park) that sells bilungal science books for preschoolers. The co. publishes them themselves. They feature Taiwan nature. I can’t remember if it’s Chin Chin or Shin Shin, maybe someone else can help… the books have very nice photographs and simple text, original series in Chinese with English versions available for more and more of them.
Ooh… that’s just what I need! Will definitely need to drop by there…
The Taipei Wild Bird Society, located off Fuhsing Sth Road between Da-An and Technology Building has a series of three books, 100 Birds of Taiwan, 31 Frogs of Taiwan and 120 Dragon Flies of Taiwan. The books are in Chinese but the bird and the frog book both have English common names and nice pictures. They also have loads of other books there, so they might be worth a visit if you’re looking for something. They’re really nice, and I think they appreciate the distraction.
HTH
Iris