The Great Dawn Choir

Reviews

"This book is a wonderful read aloud! So much fun to be had mimicking the bird song and calls - a great way to encourage audience participation and engagement."
@picturebookbc (Instagram), 22 July 2025

"This lyrical picture book, celebrates the range of bird life that is native to Australia. Written in rhyme with the use of onomatopoeia, this book is a clever read aloud which children of all ages will enjoy. The watercolour artworks are incredible! You’ll never look at the start of a new day in the same way again."
@get.kids.booked (Instagram), 30 July 2025

"The book has a fantastic read-aloud quality young children will adore and will no doubt join in with as they flock to the storytime mat, eager to vocalise the various bird calls included in the text."
Aleesah Darlison, Little Darlings (Facebook), 11 August 2025

"As well as being the most wonderful introduction to some of our native species, this is also a wonderful opportunity to develop children’s listening skills as they learn the different sounds that different birds make. Another brilliant publication for young readers wanting to discover more about their world, particularly that in their own neighbourhood."
Barbara Braxton, The Bottom Shelf, 5 August 2025

"The striking double page glossy spreads are a joy to ponder over. The brilliant detail of the birds and the colourful backgrounds displayed, along with the skilfully rhyming text, will encourage readers to think about these familiar birds in a deeper way. This wonderful book is a visual delight and definitely deserves a place in a home, school or public library."
Kathryn Beilby, ReadPlus, 6 August 2025

"With it's sing-song lyrical narrative, read this glorious book at bedtime, and after dreaming through the night, waken to the sounds of your local dawn chorus of birds."
Phil Tucak, Wildlife Outreach Vet (LinkedIn), 12 August 2025

"From the very first page this book shares the magic of an Australian morning. Sarah Speedie’s lyrical text captures the joy and wonder of the daily "concert" performed by native birds as the sun rises. Cindy Lane’s illustrations are full of soft light, rich textures, and lifelike depictions of Australia’s birdlife."
@our.tiny.moments (Instagram), 14 August 2025

"With The Great Dawn Choir, CSIRO [Publishing] has produced another delightful educational book, which when read out loud allows the young audience to sing along with the birds that they hear each morning."
Sandy Driessens, StoryLinks, 7 August 2025

"I love this book about the ‘dawn chorus’ and the noisy birds who sing - and the illustrations are just stunning. This is such a fun, engaging story - I adore it!"
@kat_bookworm (Instagram), 27 August 2025

"All in all, this is just another quality CSIRO narrative non-fiction for your readers from around Early Childhood upwards to around Year 3/4. For a bird nerd such as myself, it’s wonderful and I have no doubt that your kiddos will also love it."
Sue Warren, Just So Stories, 27 August 2025

"An absolutely stunningly book that all young readers will enjoy reading and be entertained by. A beautiful read and exquisite Illustrations."
@itsalibrarianlife (Instagram), 3 September 2025

"Using clever rhythm and onomatopoeia, this book explores Australia’s animals by the unique sounds of birds and animals in the morning. Reading along, children will enjoy recreating the noises of these native birds."
Novel Insight, August 2025

"Visually beautiful and bound to encourage practicing of bird calls, The Great Dawn Choir is a reminder and celebration of Australia's natural world."
Sarah Steed, Kids' Book Review, 27 October 2025

Features

• Engages readers with a sing-song, lyrical narrative that is perfect for reading out loud.
• Features stunning illustrations by Cindy Lane of beautiful native Australian birds.
• Explores an event that will be familiar to many readers, who have heard the dawn chorus or birdsong.
• Includes fascinating facts about the chorus members, and the importance of their birdsong.

Contents

Authors

Sarah Speedie is an internationally published children’s author. She loves to write inspiring and uplifting stories that entertain and spark the imagination.

Cindy Lane is an award-winning artist and illustrator, with a passion for the natural world. Nature provides Cindy with inspiration as well as materials to make her own paints, which she has used in this book. She is also the illustrator of Oceans at Night.

For Teachers

We have created these Teacher Notes as a free PDF download to support the use of this book in the classroom.

Teacher Notes (892.76 KB)