Go up to the roof and bask in the moonlight

The present is the distant future; lonely but not alone.

"....The reading process deeply moves one in its quietude. This book is strange and beautiful, thanks to the mysterious charm emanating from Nahid Kazemi's illustrations. Her pictures contain a wealth of detail and delicate color rendering, and each page exudes a gentle softness with a light elegance." — The Wall Street Journal Book Review

 "You can feel lonely anywhere, but the solitude of living in a city, surrounded by millions of people, is another matter." So says writer Olivia Laing in her book, "The Lonely City."

 Turning the page, a bird with strangely long legs and colorless feathers leans against a rooftop chimney, idle and bored. It is among a flock of birds, yet still feels lonely.

 One day, it meets a little girl, and life begins to change. They look at each other, freely roaming through various corners of the city, exploring the colorful joys of life. Inadvertently, the bird's feathers gradually take on beautiful colors. Then, with a start, it realizes its bird companions have already flown away from the city. Snow falls...

 This peculiar and charming picture book is the result of a wonderful collaboration between Canadian poet JonArno Lawson and Iranian illustrator Nahid Kazemi. JonArno Lawson's words are concise yet full of poetry and philosophical thought, demonstrating astonishing linguistic prowess. He uses contrasting words to create a rhythm in the text and sounds, making it flow smoothly; the open and expansive textual space serves as a guide for the illustrations, allowing different readers to savor and interpret it in various ways.

 And the illustrations by Iranian artist Nahid Kazemi are absolutely brilliant. She combines multiple media in her work, including pencil, colored pencil, dry pastel, charcoal, and collage, layered to create dreamlike, ethereal, soft images. Each spread meticulously embeds numerous details and textural qualities, while also imbuing the scenes in the city and wilderness with unique, intricate colors and perspectives.

 Reading this book once is definitely not enough; you must go back and flip through it several times, searching for the various clues Nahid Kazemi weaves into her illustrations. She depicts time, seasons, loneliness, self-discovery, and perhaps, love, as well as the journey from "seeing mountains as not mountains" to "seeing mountains as mountains again." Then, go back and reread the text, and you will discover what a beautiful and outstanding dance of words and images this is.