Al-Jahiz

Hello! My name is Al-Jahiz. I lived a very, very long time ago in a sunny city called Basra. Even when I was a little boy, I was super curious. I was born in the year 776. I loved to read books and ask lots of questions. But my favorite thing to do was watch animals. I would watch busy ants marching in a line, lizards skittering on the walls, and birds singing in the trees. I wanted to know everything about them!

I watched the animals so much that I decided to write down everything I saw. I wrote a giant book and called it the 'Book of Animals.' In my book, I wrote about how animals find their homes, what yummy foods they like to eat, and how they talk to each other without using words. I even noticed that some animals eat plants and other animals eat those animals! It was like a big lunch line, which people now call a food chain.

I wrote many, many books in my life and lived to be a very old man, over 90 years old! My 'Book of Animals' helped people long ago learn about the amazing creatures all around them. I lived a full life until the year 869. Today, people still read my words and remember me as someone who loved to learn. I hope my story reminds you to always stay curious and take a close look at the wonderful world of animals.