For a first birthday

Everyone who held them this year leaves them a message.

Granny, Grandad, the godparents and the cousins each record a voice note or a video for the baby. You put the voices and the book away until your child is old enough to sit and listen to them.

Start collecting, free See it working

Gathering is free. You won't need a card.

Hear it
Their voice plays from the page.
Read it
Every message is written out on its page.
Hold it
We deliver the printed book to your door.

The world gets better when people hear the good things we say about them.

We are enabling over 1 million people to say it. Share the stories, love and gratitude. Your voice is what makes the world's greatest gift.

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Watch it

Here's how Jack's first birthday book was made.

9:41
A green Chorus book with Welcome, Jack on the cover, beside a knitted baby shoe
How it works

Bring everyone's stories together with one link!

Start the book

Tell us who it's for

Put in the baby’s name, then send the link to the grandparents, the godparents and anyone who called in during the first year.

Share one link

Everyone adds their story

Friends and family can capture a memory by voice, video, writing or photos, wherever they are in the world. It's easy on any phone and nobody needs an account!

We put it together

Hear it, read it, hold it

We write out every voice note and gather it all into a podcast you can play and a beautiful book you can hold.

The three questions for a first birthday

  1. What was it like the first time you held the baby?
  2. What's the baby like at one?
  3. What do you hope for the baby?
Who's in a first birthday book

The baby's first year is full of other people's stories.

Add the neighbour who left a dinner on the step the week you came home from the hospital, and the friend who walked the buggy with you every morning.

1

The great-grandparents

A great-granny can tell the baby about her own first child. Her voice and her words both go in the book.

2

The godparents

A godparent can tell the baby what they plan to do together when they’re bigger, like the first trip to Croke Park.

3

Photos from the first year

Granny can add the photo from the day you brought the baby home and tell the story of that day with it.

What people say

What people say in a first birthday book

Say who you are at the start. The child will hear this years from now and may not know your voice.

"Jack, it's Etain. I came in to see you the day after you were born, and you had a full head of black hair. It was all gone a month later."
EEtainhis mam's best friend
"Happy birthday Jack, it's Uncle Hugh. When you're walking I'll bring you down to the pitch in Ballyboden and we'll kick a ball around."
HHughhis uncle
"Jack, it's Granny. I knitted the blue cardigan you wore at the christening over Lent, and I've started a bigger one."
BBreegehis granny
"Jack, I'm holding you while I record this and you keep grabbing the phone. Happy birthday from Auntie Eimhear."
EEimhearhis aunt
When to start

Start a month ahead of the birthday party

The printed book takes about three weeks to reach you. If you're starting later, the podcast link and the book online are ready the day you order.

In their words
A Christmas gift
We gave a book of stories about Mam to her for Christmas and she said it was the best gift she had received. There were some stories she had never heard! She felt really surrounded by love.
K
Kathleen's family
gave her the book at Christmas
What it costs

Gathering the voices is free. You only pay when the book is ready.

The gathering
Free
Send one link and collect the voices.
  • Every voice and every photo
  • Download every recording
  • Start as many books as you like
Start free
The voices
$45
Voice editing, and a personal podcast link.
  • Each recording tidied as it comes in
  • The original kept exactly as it was made
  • One link that plays every voice straight through
Choose the voices
The book
$99
Everything in the voices, plus the finished book to read online.
  • The finished book laid out to read online
  • Every message playable from its page
  • Every message written out beside its voice
Choose the book
The keepsake
$115
The book, printed and posted to you.
  • One printed hardcover copy
  • Posted to you
  • Everything in the book option
Choose the keepsake

Want to write your own questions? Start a blank book

Questions people ask

What is a good keepsake for a 1st birthday?

A book of messages from the people who knew them as a baby.

What do you write in a 1st birthday message for the baby?

Tell them one thing that happened this year, like their first bath at Granny's. You can talk instead of writing, and Chorus types out every word for the book.

Can grandparents abroad record a message?

Yes. They record from anywhere in the world with the same link. We post the printed book to Ireland, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, every EU country, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland.

Can guests record at the party?

Yes. Anyone who missed it beforehand can open the same link at the party and record a message on their own phone.

Can we keep adding to it as they grow?

This book is for the first birthday. The free Chorus app on Android sends you a question about your child every week or every month, and your answers become a book of their whole childhood.

More books like this

A new baby As they grow A christening A baby shower From the grandchildren Big birthdays

Whose first birthday is coming up?

Start the book now and invite people whenever you're ready.

Start collecting, free
Start collecting, free