Birds in My Tree: The Magic of Birds and the Joy of Singing

By Vanessa I.R. Craven

This is a picture, music book and teaching tool, with colourful bird photographs, lyrics, guitar chords and music notation at the back of the book. It provides children, parents and teachers with an audio – visual experience and an opportunity to learn about different birds, their bird-calls and learn a new song. It allows for creativity and experimentation with creating bird sounds, flapping wings, strutting about and having fun singing together.

A QR Code and You Tube link in book gives free access to the live performance of the song, “Birds In My Tree”.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Dec 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669833017

Vanessa I.R. Craven

Vanessa I. R. Craven is a poet, author, artist and singer songwriter who lives in Daylesford, Australia, having made a ‘tree change’ from Melbourne where she worked as a Health Sciences Librarian. She hales from Mussoorie, a hill-station in Northern India in the Himalaya Mountains, where she was born and lived for 25 years. Her father was Welsh and her mother North Indian, and both were teachers. She owes much to her mother who encouraged her musicality in her early years by walking four km with her to her guitar lessons. In addition to this, her mother always encouraged her to write the annual Christmas letter to family and friends. This played an important part in developing her writing skills in those formative years. Vanessa followed in her father’s footsteps and developed a love of photography, art, literature and nature. She accompanied him on many camping, fishing, hunting and photography trips. She displays her art and photography in various galleries, and plays music in various settings and festivals. She has written many original songs, and won several awards. ‘Lullaby for Monty’ and ‘Forbidden Dance’ both won awards in the Australian Songwriters Association Contests in 2013 and 2016 respectively. She has recorded three albums and continues to play music with her bands. Her music can be found on her website https://www.acousticsessions.com.au/ and online streaming platforms. Vanessa has published short stories and poetry with the Moorabool Writers Craft. This is her first self-published book. Never would she have imagined that she would publish a children’s book, but here it is. Covid lockdowns had a part to play in allowing her the time to appreciate nature, particularly the vibrant birdlife around her. She just needed to stop and look around her, and as a result this book had to be written. So here it is!

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