This beautiful book of narrative non-fiction looks at the urban forest and dives into the question of how we can live in harmony with city trees. “Imagine a city draped in a blanket of green ... Is this the city you know?” A Forest in the City looks at the urban forest, starting with a bird’s-eye view of the tree canopy, then swooping down to street level, digging deep into the ground, then moving up through a tree’s trunk, back into the leaves and branches. Trees make our cities more beautiful and provide shade but they also fight climate change and pollution, benefit our health and connections to one another, provide food and shelter for wildlife, and much more. Yet city trees face an abundance of problems, such as the abundance of concrete, poor soil and challenging light conditions. So how can we create a healthy environment for city trees? Urban foresters are trying to create better growing conditions, plant diverse species, and maintain trees as they age. These strategies, and more, reveal that the urban forest is a complex system—A Forest in the City shows readers we are a part of it. Includes a list of activities to help the urban forest and a glossary. The ThinkCities series is inspired by the urgency for new approaches to city life as a result of climate change, population growth and increased density. It highlights the challenges and risks cities face, but also offers hope for building resilience, sustainability and quality of life as young people act as advocates for themselves and their communities. Key Text Features diagrams author's note glossary sources definitions Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.7 Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.

Amsterdamse Bos, Bois de Boulognes, Epping Forest, Hong Kong’s country parks, Stanley Park: throughout history cities across the world have developed close relationships with nearby woodland areas. In some cases, cities have even developed – and in some cases are promoting – a distinct ‘forest identity’. This book introduces the rich heritage of these city forests as cultural landscapes, and shows that cities and forests can be mutually beneficial. Essential reading for students and researchers interested in urban sustainability and urban forestry, this book also has much wider appeal. For with city forests playing an increasingly important role in local government sustainability programs, it provides an important reference for those involved in urban planning and decision making, public affairs and administration, and even public health. From providers of livelihoods to healthy recreational environments, and from places of inspiration and learning to a source of conflict, the book presents examples of city forests from around the world. These cases clearly illustrate how the social and cultural development of towns and forests has often gone hand in hand. They also reveal how better understanding of city forests as distinct cultural and social phenomena can help to strengthen synergies both between cities and forests, and between urban society and nature.

A rich and insightful collection of personal essays about life, death and our connection to the environment from bestselling Australian author Sophie Cunningham

When a fire starts in the forest, the Lego City firemen race to put it out.

"Drawing on a wide variety of critical approaches, from philology to ecocriticism ... this collection explores the interaction of culture and nature that imbue's Tolkien's secondary world with the immediacy of our own"--Dust jacket flap.

Dig deep into the unsolved murder of Jackie English and join the hunt for a serial killer Fifty years ago, a serial killer prowled the quiet city of London, Ontario, marking it as his hunting grounds. As young women and boys were abducted, raped, and murdered, residents of the area held their loved ones closer and closer, terrified of the monster — or monsters — stalking the streets. Homicide detective Dennis Alsop began hunting the killer in the 1960s, and he didn’t stop searching until his death 40 years later. For decades, detectives, actual and armchair, and the victims’ families and friends continued to ask questions: Who was the Forest City Killer? Was there more than one person, or did a depraved individual commit all of these crimes on his own? Combing through the files Detective Alsop left behind, researcher Vanessa Brown reopens the cases, revealing previously unpublished witness statements, details of evidence, and astonishing revelations. And through her investigation, Vanessa posits the unthinkable: is it possible that the Forest City Killer is still alive and, like the notorious Golden State Killer, a simple DNA test could bring him to justice?

The second book in the ThinkCities series explores water as a precious, finite resource, tracing its journey from source, through the city, and back again. Living in cities where water flows effortlessly from our taps and fountains, it’s easy to take it for granted. City of Water, the second book in the ThinkCities series, shines a light on the water system that is vital for our health and well-being. The narrative traces the journey of water from the forests, mountains, lakes, rivers and wetlands that form the watershed, through pipes and treatment facilities, into our taps, fire hydrants and toilets, then out through storm and sewer systems toward wastewater treatment plants and back into the watershed. Along the way we discover that some of the earliest cities with water systems date back to the Indus Valley in 2500 BC; that in 1920 only 1 percent of the US population had indoor plumbing; that if groundwater is used up too quickly, the land can actually sink; and more. The text is sprinkled with fun and surprising facts — some water fountains in Paris offer sparkling water, and scientists are working to extract microscopic particles of precious metals found in sewage. Readers are encouraged to think about water as a finite resource, and to take action to prevent our cities and watersheds from becoming more polluted. More than 2 billion people in the world are without access to safe, fresh water at home. As the world’s population grows, along with pollution and climate change, access to clean water is becoming an urgent issue. Includes practical steps that kids can take to help conserve water. The ThinkCities series is inspired by the urgency for new approaches to city life as a result of climate change, population growth and increased density. It highlights the challenges and risks cities face, but also offers hope for building resilience, sustainability and quality of life as young people advocate for themselves and their communities. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.