Many moons ago I was at an environmental education conference in Nova Scotia. One evening we were entertained by two young women - museum naturalist Ashley Moffat and museum volunteer Joyce Saunders. They were trying to find a way to entertain children with nature-themed songs, and discovered they both had a talent for fun, interactive and quirky music. The Wilderbeats was born! Ashley Moffat has since retired from the duo (although she's still writing songs and entertaining kids as an interpreter at Kejimkujic National Park), and Shannon Lynch took over as Wilderbeat Part 2.

This is children's music at its best - the kind of stuff I can listen to in the car and not pull my hair out :)

One of our favourites? A song called Tamarack, off the 2006 album Second Nature. I strongly recommend you find this CD! Check out the lyrics below:

Tamarack, Hackmatack, Juniper, and Larch Absolutely naked from November until March It's got CONES! and it's got NEEDLES! But it isn't what it seems... It's decidedly deciduous and never evergreen

Next time you're outside playing and there's a tamarack in sight Why don't you get up close and notice what the needles are like? They grow in little bunches that look just like tiny brooms If you were only a couple inches tall, you could use one to sweep your room!

Now, if there was a party that only softwoods could attend And the invitation said that you could bring along a friend The tamarack would never ask a taller tree to come 'Cause taller trees are too shady, and larches love their sun!

I suppose you all are wondering what "deciduous" really means Well, in the season we call "autumn", you can see the falling leaves The beautiful Red Maple may be the one that we know best But the larches drop their needles too, so they also pass the test!

What's your favourite children's CD?