When you were born, a song began...

So begins this lyrical and unique non-fiction picture book by award-winning children's author Nicola Davies. With tenderness and heart, Nicola introduces young readers to the universal rights that every child is entitled to under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Using the metaphor of song, the book opens with the arrival of a newborn and its unique 'song', then pans out to explore all the essential things that every song needs to thrive - love, protection, a home, a name, the chance to explore and learn. In the latter half of the book, the issues of child labour, exploitation and war are sensitively introduced to emphasise that we all must play our part in championing children's rights and offering support to those who need it most.

With deeply moving watercolour illustrations by award-winning artist Marc Martin, this is a book that encourages children and adults alike to speak up for young people all around the world, and to treat one another with compassion and kindness.

This book has been graded for interest at 5-7 years.

There are 32 pages in this book. This book was published 2019 by Hachette Children's Group .

Nicola Davies is an author and zoologist. Nicola is also the author of Big Blue Whale, Surprising Sharks and Poo. Marc Martin is an illustrator, artist and book maker based in Melbourne, Australia. His illustrations have been commissioned by clients such as Monocle magazine, Wired magazine, The Financial Review and Capital magazine. He is also the author and illustrator of A Forest, and Max. A Forest won Australia's 2013 Crichton Award for Children's Book Illustration.