Beautiful nature in the heart of city life

According to the reporter for the children and young adult service of Iran Book News Agency (IBNA), within cities, among steel and stone structures, among skyscrapers and man-made structures that have distanced nature from daily life and, contrary to life around towns and villages, have resulted in air pollution, traffic jams, and moving away from pristine environments, signs of nature can still be found. Creatures live between wall cracks, inside canals, on trees, and throughout the very heart of these stone and steel structures, bringing balance to the lives of city dwellers. We might not like some of them; for example, we might be afraid of lizards or call spiders predators; but these very creatures are the connecting link between urban human life and nature.

The book “City under a Microscope” attempts to show children and teenagers creatures hidden from human sight, emerging from this gray world. With a simple and gentle language, it aims to make all of them lovable and demonstrate that nature and the environment can be found within this very urban life. Many of these creatures are unknown to us, and we are unaware of their way of life and the importance they can have on our lives. After providing simple information about these creatures and where they live, this book introduces them scientifically. It is worth noting that the illustrations in the book have played a significant role in better identifying the creatures that are the subject of this book.

Sand ant, dandelion, maidenhair fern, zooplankton, silver moss, ghost fungus, wild fennel, social hunter spider, garden lizard, ringtail possum, and small logania plant are elements of the environment that exist in city life and are introduced in this book in simple language to teach children to look more closely at the world around them. “City under a Microscope” was written by Deborah Frankl and illustrated by Ingrid Bartkowiak. Translated by Leila Hosseinrashidi, it has been published by Cheshmeh Publishing, the children and young adult imprint of the Cheshmeh cultural family, and is available to enthusiasts for 220,000 Tomans.