The Great Dawn Choir by Sarah Speedie illustrated by Cindy Lane

"The term dawn chorus refers to the collective calls of birds at the start of a new day. ... It usually begins anywhere from 90 to 30 minutes before the sun rises. ... Birdsong and calls can be used to communicate with other birds or to defend territory. That's why the dawn chorus is a mix of raucous squawking and chatty screeches alongside melodic songs or loud territorial calls."

Can you name all the birds on the cover of this book? I have listed them below if you are unsure.

My favourite from my own morning bird choir/chorus are the pairs of birds who sing call and response to one another. I like to think of it as a safety check or their love language. Listen to this one the Common Koel.

Can I suggest you open up this web link which contains the top 40 bird songs of the birds found in our Australian backyards and use it when you read this book for the second time.  It will really add another dimension to this experience for your young students. I would begin with the kookaburra. There ae also detailed notes at the back of The Great Dawn Choir with photographs of each of the eight birds. 

Click on the eight birds featured in this book:

• Australian magpie
• Sulphur-crested cockatoo
• Rainbow lorikeet
• Laughing kookaburra
• Fairy wren
• Australian raven
• Crested pigeon

There is nothing to see in this video (10 minutes) so I would just play it for your library group and let them close their eyes and listen. They might recognise some of these dawn chorus sounds from their own neighborhood. Also in my post about This Bird I mention the ABC Radio National weekly bird sound 'competition' called 'tweet of the week' (link below).

You can see more books illustrated by Cindy Lane here and you can discover other books by Sarah Speedie here. I also found an Instagram post where we see Cindy Lane painting her fairy wren. A couple of days I talked about this book which is also from CSIRO Publishing. 

This Bird

Huge thanks to CSIRO Publishing for sending a review copy of The Dawn Chorus. I'm building up a terrific collection of books about our Australian birds. The Great Dawn Choir will be released in August.

Try to find this book too after you look at the end papers of The Great Dawn Choir which are filled with feathers. This one is not Australian but it is a truly special book:

Birds and their feathers

Here are some other books about birds and their songs:

The Forgotten Song

This is perfect because it also contains onomatopoeia

Magpies in Australia

Have you heard the nesting bird

The Song of the Nightingale

These companion books might be in your school library - I have popped all of them on my own list but please note these are not about Australian birds:

The Forgotten Song: Saving the Regent Honeyeater by Coral Vass illustrated by Jess Racklyeft

"Regent's father had learnt the song from his father, who learnt it from his father too. But with Regent's species now facing extinction, there is no one around to teach him. Regent tries to mimic the sounds of different birds but without success. Will Regent learn his mating call before it is too late? Or will his ancient song be forgotten forever?"

This is a sad book. This is an uplifting book. The ending is hopeful but also open-ended.  The pages are filled with rich and highly appealing illustrations. The plot is simple - you have read it before - but using our Australian birds to tell the story provides the perfect balance of science, Australian fauna and flora and animal conservation all told in a form that is reassuringly familiar to younger readers.

Looking at the story form - a young Regent Honeyeater is old enough to find a mate. To do this he needs to sing his special song. This song has been handed down through the generations from father to son but our young hero has no father and so no role model. He goes in search of a song but none are right and in fact he cannot even make the sounds of the other birds. He hears a friar-bird, a currawong, and an eastern rosella. Note the pattern of three. Then he sees a park ranger attaching a curious box to a tree and from this box he hears a sweet song.

"It whistled and warbled. The melody soon filled the forest. It bounced off the trees, skimmed across the billabongs and echoed through the woodlands. The song sounded familiar and it made Regent's heart feel warm inside."

Looking at the science - the total population of regent honeyeaters was estimated to be only 1500 individuals in 2000 while today it is around 350-400. The male attracts a female with a unique song. Land clearing, farming and urban development have damaged the honeyeaters woodland habitat. Scientists have begun a captive breeding program in conjunction with the Traditional Owners of Wonnarua country. 

Image source: Local Land services Central West

Read more:
Australian Geographic: The road to saving Australia’s regent honeyeaters

Environment NSW

Birdlife Australia - hear their song

ABC news 1st July, 2023

The art is based on photos and other materials. The colours used by Jess Racklyeft are joyous.

Image source: Instagram

There is extensive back matter provided in this book. A timeline of the regent honeyeater from 60,000 years ago up to 2022. The regent honeyeater is listed as critically endangered but researchers are now using recordings of their song in the hope they will teach this to other birds in the wild. There is also a glossary and a page of artist credits which I found especially fascinating. 

The Forgotten Song is exquisitely beautiful, with both words and illustrations seeming to ooze hope, ingenuity and wonder. ... The mixed media illustrations have been created with a cheerful and energising colour palette; some with the subtle inclusion of historic habitat photos. ... organic speech bubbles that contain the perfect markings and colours for different birds to sing and dance across the page. These gorgeous representations will make you hear bird calls inside your head! Kids' Book Review

So this lyrical, beautifully illustrated story is another brilliant wake-up call for young readers not only about the impact of urban sprawl on this species in particular, but on our birdlife generally. The Bottom Shelf  Click this review to see a short video about the Regent Honeyeater. 

I am going to make a bold call and say I think I have found a book for the 2024 CBCA Eve Pownall notables, short list (and maybe this will even be the winner). Huge congratulations to CSIRO publishing on another splendid book for our Australian children. On their page you can see inside this book, read reviews and there is a link to the teachers notes. 

Companion books:

I excited to see this new book illustrated by Jess Racklyeft:

AND in 2021 we were sent The Book for Happy Hearts illustrated by Jess Racklyeft for our CBCA judging. The Picture Book team sent it on to Younger Readers but sadly it did not make their notable list.  I highly recommend this book as one you should add to your school library. Jess won the CBCA Picture Book of the Year award in 2022 for her book Iceberg. 

Coral Vass also has some splendid books including Jorn's Magnificent Imagination; Grandma's treasured shoes; and Sorry Day.

Nightingale's Nest by Nikki Loftin

John Fischer junior is known as Little John. His family are suffering. Ten months ago Little John's younger sister Raelynn has been accidentally killed. Little John blames himself for this horrific tragedy but so does his father and his mother has withdrawn into a world of mental turmoil. The family were struggling for money prior to the accident but things have now become much worse. They have been forced to sell things to raise money for the funeral and Little John's father is drinking away any money he makes felling trees. It is the summer and Little John now works with his dad. The local, rich, store owner  nicked named The Emperor, has employed them to clear and prune some old pecan trees. On their first day working in the summer heat Little John hears Gayle. She has a nightingale voice:

"The notes were high and liquid, a honey-soft river of sound that seeped right through me. ... The song sailed over the fence, like it was meant for me alone. No words to it. It was pure melody."

"That's when I realised the singer was a person. A little girl. She was plain, with brown hair the same colour as mine. But hers was ratted around her face like she'd never seen a brush, and she had dirt smeared on her cheeks and nose. Too thin, I thought, as she climbed over the edge of the bundled mess of sticks and out onto the branch to see me better."

Gayle is a foster child. She is living with Mrs Cutlin and her son Jeb. They are so horrid to this tiny child and there is frequent violence. Little John is worried about Gayle but there is another threat. The Emperor (Mr King) has heard Gayle sing. Her voice is exquisite. He wants this voice for his collection. The taking of her voice is far more sinister than just making a recording. The money ($500) offered by Mr King is actually 'blood money' but what should Little John do? He has made promises to his tiny fragile friend Gayle but he also need to think about his family.

Breathtaking; powerful; disturbing; mesmerising; raw; and tender - these are some words I would use to describe Nightingale's nest by Nikki Loftin. I started this book last night and finished it today. This is another of those books that you simply cannot put down but I do need to say there is some terrible violence to endure and so I would say this book is for very mature readers aged 11+. Read some background to this story on the blog Nerdy Book Club.

I held by breath when I clicked on the reviews for Nightingale's nest. When I adore a book as much as I adored this one, when a book moves me as deeply as this book moved me, I would have been so crushed if reviewers that I respect did not echo my reading experience. I am happy to say nearly every reviewer I have read loved this book. I don't usually quote reviewers from Goodreads but I am also going to put a few quotes here just to show the range of opinions.

School Library Journal : Smart and beautiful by turns, The Nightingale’s Nest does one thing that few will contest. Once you’ve read it, you’ll have a hard time getting it out of your head. Elizabeth Bird

Kirkus Star review: Unusual, finely crafted story of loss, betrayal and healing.

Nightingale’s Nest also thoughtfully reflects on poverty, power, gender dynamics and the question of masculinity as well as the desperate, bitter choices good people are moved to make when living under pressure. But it’s also about second chances, making amends and righting wrongs. The Book Smugglers

Goodreads comment 5 stars: "Thoughtful tween readers who enjoy a powerful story with a bittersweet ending will want to pick this one up. It’s a rare and beautiful treasure, lightly brushed with magic."  Shanshad Whelan

Goodreads comments 2 stars: "The plot is driven by something you know is going to happen, even though it seems so unlikely." Destinee Sutton

Here are some companion reads:

Bird

After reading Nightingale's Nest you are sure to want to revisit the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale:

Have you heard the Nesting Bird? by Rita Gray illustrated by Kenard Pak

 

This book reads like a poem or a song with the repeated refrain:

"But have you heard the nesting bird?"

This is not a new book (published 2014) but I do love the art of Kenard Pak so I wanted to share this lyrical and beautifully illustrated book with you. Good news the paperback edition of this book is available and it is a good price. 

At the back of the book there is an interview the the robin. Here are some sample questions:

• Why are you so quiet in your nest?
• Where is the father bird?
• Do you have a song?

In this book you will discover many birds and most will be unfamiliar to Australian children but that is why you should read this book because it contains birds you will meet one day in other books and perhaps one day even in real life. I'd love to see a chickadee or a whip-poor-will.

Here are the birds in this book - dove; woodpecker; starling; sparrow; swallow; crow; cardinal; chickadee; catbird; blue jay; whip-poor-will; wood thrush. Here are the doves.

The robin stays quiet through the incubation of her eggs so other predators will not find her babies. Robins do sing at other times:

cheerily, cheer up! my tree makes syrup! syrup so sweet!

I have made the discovery that we do have robins in Australia but they are not related to the robins in this book.  There are also American robins and European robins.

Listen to an American robin.

Image Source Audubon

As welcome as the robin in springtime. Kirkus Star review

Here is a video of Have you heard the Nesting Bird? If you want another book to explore bird sounds try to find this older book by Pat Hutchins:

Here are other books illustrated by Kenard Pak.

Here is the European robin:

Image Source iNaturalist