Life lessons from forklifts

If you and your kids are in need of a superhero fix to chase away the post-holiday blues, Irish forklift manufacturer Combilift may have the answer.

The Monaghan, Ireland-based company recently published The Forklift Trucks and Their Secret Superpowers, a children’s book about overcoming difficulties and the importance of friendship. Written by award-winning author Emer Conlon, the story features several “endearing” characters based on Combilift products—Stretch, Allie Aislemaster, and CB—as well as a couple of “baddies” for drama. A three-page activity section is included at the back of the book.

“The idea was to write a children’s book that ‘cartoonizes’ the main Combilift products and transforms them into characters that children will love,” Conlon said in a release. “I wanted to also use it as a marketing tool for the adults, and so I used the unique selling points of the actual forklifts and turned them into the superpowers of the characters! That way both adults and children would get something from the book.”

“We believe it was very important to be involved with the education of the next generation and to that end, we already have a number of programs, including apprenticeships, tours, etc.,” Combilift CEO and co-founder Martin McVicar said in the release. “However, our new “CombiKids” initiative will involve even younger children with Combilift. The idea is that little ones would ‘buy into’ the Combilift brand when they are young by creating an association with it—thus encouraging future engineers and lots of other budding talent, as well as motivating children to read.”

In recognition of the financial hit nonprofits have taken during the pandemic, the company will donate all proceeds from book sales to the charity Make a Wish Ireland. For ordering information, go to combilift.com/en/combi-kids/.