The Forgotten Song
Saving the Regent Honeyeater
By: Coral Vass Illustrated by: Jess Racklyeft
A moving story of a Regent Honeyeater who forgets his song, and how he learns it again.
The song of the regent honeyeater has been heard in the bush for many generations – but could it soon be lost forever? + Full description
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’s too late? Or will his ancient song be forgotten forever?
Reading level varies from child to child, but we recommend this book for ages 5 to 9.
Shortlisted, The Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children's Literature 2024: Picture Fiction
Notable Book, The CBCA Eve Pownall Award for Information Books 2024
News
Watch a reading:
Join animal expert Ben Dessen, bird-watcher Maurice, Owl, and Konka the red-tailed black cockatoo reading The Forgotten Song:
Play School Story Time on ABC iView (external link).
Watch the video trailer:
Reviews
"The exceptional blending of mixed media and watercolor illustrations with the captivating narrative on the plight of the regent honeyeater make this text so engaging. The uniquely Australian landscapes, represented through evocative visuals, make this publication stand out. The magical story unfolds with ancient bird songs filling the forests, creating a timeless and enchanting atmosphere. Racklyeft’s artistry beautifully amplifies the text, seamlessly incorporating historical elements to showcase the regent honeyeater’s representation over the years. The sad yet evocative journey, coupled with cleverly integrated scientific methods, offers a poignant narrative. The book empowers readers with facts, a timeline, and a glossary, highlighting the environmental impact and human intervention in bird conservation. The Forgotten Song: Saving the Regent Honeyeater stands as a visually stunning, educational, and empowering exploration of Australia’s birdlife, encouraging positive change."
CBCA 2024 Book of the Year Awards Judges' Comments
"The lyrical text is a joy to read aloud, with delightful use of repetition and alliteration. And those collage-style illustrations are just exquisite - bursting with hope and colour. You will want to explore each page to admire the stunning patterns and details."
Sandy Bigna, aussie_kids_books (Instsagram), 26 July 2023
"This is a beautifully illustrated and sweetly written tale of a regent honeyeater who forgets the song of his species, and learns to sing it again"
Gardening Australia, June 2023
"The glorious full-page illustrations are a clever mixture of vibrant paint with collaged photographs, articles and paintings from over 100 years ago in order to show how the environment has changed over time. In the final pages are facts, a map, a valuable timeline, glossary and a note from the artiest and image credits. A very engaging book."
Kathryn Beilby, ReadPlus, 5 April 2023
"The Regent Honeyeater, a stunning bird of Australia's woodlands, is in real trouble. A large recovery effort is underway to save the species, with a suite of recovery actions being implemented across their range. This book beautifully captures the essence of the bird and its environment, the current situation it finds itself in, and the work of the amazing team working to save them from extinction."
Dean Ingwersen, Woodland Bird Program Leader and Regent Honeyeater recovery coordinator, BirdLife Australia
"This clever narrative tells the story of the Regent Honeyeater and how its species is facing extinction. This story tells how this bird learned its song again. Coral and Jess are remarkable book creators and always bring stories about nature to life so beautifully. This one will leave an impression."
Rita, get.kids.booked (Instagram), 29 March 2023
"The Forgotten Song is exquisitely beautiful, with both words and illustrations seeming to ooze hope, ingenuity and wonder... Coral Vass’s sparkling words accompanied by Jess Racklyeft’s inspired and uplifting illustrations, which include the use of one hundred year old photos, bring this picture book to life in the most joyful of ways."
Elizabeth Vercoe, Kids' Book Review, 10 April 2023
"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. Accompanied by some basic facts and a timeline stretching back to First Nations peoples, young readers learn about the importance of bird-song in perpetuating a species and how the loss of potential mates can have devastating consequences."
Barbara Braxton, The Bottom Shelf, 13 April 2023
Details
Hardback | April 2023 | $ 24.99ISBN: 9781486316403 | 32 pages | 250 x 250 mm
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
B&W photographs, Colour illustrations, Colour Paintings
ePDF | April 2023
ISBN: 9781486316410
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Available from eRetailers
ePUB | April 2023
ISBN: 9781486316427
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Available from eRetailers
Features
- Introduces readers to the concept of how and why a species can become endangered.
- Explores how songbirds need to listen and learn from others in their species in order to keep their song.
- Shows how conservation work is providing hope for Regent Honeyeaters, and helping them learn their song.
Authors
Coral Vass is an award-winning children's author. She has always loved telling stories and is passionate about giving all children an equal opportunity to read.
Jess Racklyeft is an author and illustrator based in Melbourne. She particularly loves illustrating plants and animals and sharing her love of the Australian bush.
For Teachers
We have created these Teacher Notes as a free PDF download to support the use of this book in the classroom.
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