TEHRAN – The Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA) has released a book series to raise children’s awareness of the species at risk of extinction in Iran.

Children above nine are the target audience of the series titled “Hey! Take Care of Us”, the IIDCYA announced on Tuesday.

It is composed of 11 books written and illustrated by different authors and artists coordinated by Zohreh Parirokh.

Nine books of the series include “Run, Run, Run!”, “Who Had Stuck the Letter on the Glass?”, “Who…? Where…? and…”, “The Little Big-Eared”, “Persian Fallow Deer”, “Believe, I’m a Turtle”, “Fear… Fear… Fear”, “The Last Iranian Ground-Jay of the Big Plain” and “Call Me Salamander”. 

In this series, children learn about Iran’s wildlife species that are increasingly threatened with extinction. The animals take children to their world, telling them why and how they have faced the tribulation.  

“Hey! Take Care of Us” also teach the children how to help the environment and the animals. 

The books center on Persian onager, Persian fallow deer, turtle, salamander, Pleske’s ground jay, Asiatic cheetah and a number of other animals.

Parirokh, Tahered Ibad, Minu Karimzadeh, Mohammadreza Marzuqi, Sorur Kotobi, Mostafa Rahmandoost, Susan Taqdis, Mohammadreza Shams and Farhad Hassanzadeh are the writers of the nine books of the series.

The books have been illustrated by Ali Nurpur, Majdi Saberinejad, Fereshteh Jafari-Farmand, Reza Maktabi, Babak Amel-Qarib, Parvin Heidarzadeh, Sanaz Zamani and Hadis Jazayeri, and Majid Kazemi and Ali Khodai have collaborated as graphic designers.

The IIDCYA has previously published numerous books to raise children’s knowledge of the environment and wildlife.

In January 2019, British children’s book writer Leon Gray’s series “Animal Scientists” was published in Persian by the institute.

Composed of five books, “Animal Scientists” combines ecology with simple scientific principles so young readers can see how animals have adapted to cope with their environment and how they relate to other animals. The series explores animals' use of science and engineering to overcome environmental challenges such as escaping predators, making a shelter, finding food and finding a mate.

Photo: This combination photo shows the front covers of the nine books of the series “Hey! Take Care of Us”.   

MMS/YAW