Perek Shira

[1] It was first printed, with a commentary, in Moses ben Joseph de Trani's Bet Elohim (1576), but it is mentioned as early as the 10th century.

[2] It contains 85 sections, in each of which elements of creation, beginning with the celestial and ending with dogs, use biblical and rabbinic verses in order to sing God's praises.

Use of Perek Shira used to be prevalent in the daily liturgy and medieval philosopher Joseph Albo wrote that whoever recites Perek Shira is guaranteed a place in the World to Come.

[5] It appears that all the creatures named are found in the Holy Land, the only exceptions perhaps being the elephant (whose song is Psalms 92:6) - but elephants were brought into the Holy Land by foreign armies, as mentioned, for example, in the First Book of Maccabees; and the leviathan (whose song is Psalms 136:1), presumably a mythic sea beast mentioned in the Bible.

However, there are many publishers who publish Perek Shira as a separate entity, anywhere from a wallet-sized booklet to full-sized coffee table books complete with pictures illustrating each of the characters speaking to God.