The Dawn Chorus by Suzanne Barton

 When Peep awakes one morning to the sound of beautiful birdsong, he follows the melody and finds the Dawn Chorus. Their music enchants him - if only he could sing with them! But despite trying his hardest, Peep realises he doesn't fit in with the other birds in the Dawn Chorus. 

What Peep doesn't know is that he's about to meet someone very special who will change everything...

Star Rating

I received this book from the publishers for an open and honest review. 

First of all my Year 2 class and I must say a big thank you to Bloomsbury for sending us this beautiful hardback version of The Dawn Chorus. The illustrations are exceptional and really add to the charm of this book. 

The Dawn Chorus tells the story of Peep, a young bird desperate to fit in and find his place in the world. One morning he awakes to the beautiful sound of birdsong and sets off to discover where this sound is coming from. Along his way he meets some characters who helpfully direct him to the source of the sound - The Dawn Chorus - which is essentially a choir made up of birds. Desperate to be a part of this amazing sound, Peep auditions for the choir but a series of unfortunate events means he is unsuccessful. Feeling sad and alone, Peep meets a bird who looks just like him, a bird who will change everything. 

As usual, my class had some comical contributions towards the review of this book. Overall the children enjoyed it but they seemed to be annoyed with Peep for being so lazy. One child commented that "Pip shouldn't have been late for his audition. If you are going to turn up late then of course you are going to fail." Another child suggested that the book would have been better if Pip had decided to build his own choir, not just of birds but an assortment of different animals. This lead on to a ridiculous discussion about singing frogs and rabbits that could play the piano. I couldn't help but think of the scene from The Little Mermaid at this point.

 

 

As stated, this is a heartfelt story of a tiny nightingale desperate to belong, by an exceptionally talented new author-illustrator.