Books for Education

Books help children to recognize the value of nature.

Matto Barfuß is one of the most popular German wildlife photographers and lived as the member of a cheetah family in the wilderness for 25 weeks. He has written numerous books and through his impressive pictures he makes a piece of wilderness available for everyone. He writes and illustrates children's books about wildlife in certain regions and draws attention to their uniqueness and need for protection.

Lars Gorschlüter (l) and Matto Barfuss (r) at a meeting at the Art Gallery in Rheinau.

The education project focuses on the adjacent residential areas around the National Parks. Here, people live closely together with wildlife and often come into conflict, especially with the predators of the adjacent wildlife refuges.

Matto Barfuß travels to the affected villages to familiarize preschool children and their families with the images and texts of his books, which he leaves behind as a gift and memory. The books are printed in large numbers and widely distributed. The stories about the lives of lions, giraffes, elephants, wild dogs and other wild animals show the children that these creatures also need a space to live, food and water – and that they are important for the balance of nature.

Another project in preparation is focusing on children aged between 8-13 years. Literature is to be created that shows and explains these children the nature in their direct neighborhoods.