How i began to write animal songs for kidsCategory: Animal Songs- Ocean Published: Monday, July 13, 2009 Dear Friends, People often ask me how I began to write animal songs for kids. My answer is always the same: "It all began with The Tide Pool Song." Many years ago, I began to visit the tide pools in Laguna Beach, CA where I live. I wanted to learn more about them so that I could become a tidewater docent and teach others about the tide pools and how to protect the ocean animals who live there. I'll never forget my first afternoon in the tide pools. I was so excited to see hermit crabs, sea anemones, urchins, sea stars, barnacles, opoleye, sculpin, seaweed and octopus. Until that day, I had not realized how many different animals and plants lived in the tide pools. I began to learn about their characteristics and behaviors and how they survived the comings and goings of the strong ocean tides. For example, anemones cover themselves with small pieces of broken mussel shells in order to protect themselves from predators and from the heat of the sun. And did you know that sea stars have two stomachs? They put one of those stomachs outside their body to catch and digest their food. This allows them to catch bigger animals than they would by using their mouths. The more I learned, the more I felt a sense of wonder, awe and protectiveness toward the tide pool creatures. I couldn't wait to return and teach others what I had learned. One day, soon after that magical afternoon in the tide pools, I was at home strumming on my guitar and I began to hum a brand new tune. The more I hummed the tune, the more I felt the same feelings I had while I was at the tide pools: feelings of happiness, curiousity and wonder. Then I began to write words to go with the tune. Words like: "I wonder what I'll see at the tide pool today, what might crawl by or swim my way." and " I better walk so gently, treat it with care, so the tide pool life will always be there." Before I knew it, I had written my first animal song for kids, and I named it The Tide Pool Song. I began to sing it at the tide pools (of course), at schools, parties and wherever children would listen. It felt good to see how my song made kids (and adults) smile and want to learn more about the tide pools and tide pool protection. I am proud to say that "The Tide Pool Song" is used by the California State Parks and Orange County Parks as a teaching song for kids. It is also in an Emmy award-winning film called "Tidepool Scene." "The Tide Pool Song" is on the CD "IF I WERE A FISH and Other Ocean Songs for Kids" by Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders. I look forward to writing many more animal songs for kids. All it takes is an interesting animal or ecosystem to inspire me. And that happens all the time. -Birdsong
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Post a CommentOther Recent ArticlesWatch a video of a Blue Whale -The largest animal on Earth!Category: Animal Song Videos Published: Friday, December 02, 2011 Dear Friends. Check out this video of a kayaker's amazing encounter with a blue whale, the largest animal on Earth. It gives you a close-up look at just how big and magnificent these creatures are. I felt excited and tingly inside when I watched this. You can learn just how big a blue whale by listening to my song So Big! Blue Whale! on our CD IF I WERE A FISH and other Ocean Songs for Kids by Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders®. I wrote this song as a tribute to the world's largest animal. See if you can if you can find facts about a blue whale's lungs, heart and tongue in the song! (The lyrics to the song are below.) Meet some Mexican and Alaskan Gray Wolves! More photos from California Wolf CenterCategory: Animal Songs-Wolves Published: Tuesday, August 16, 2011 Dear Friends, Meet some of the 29 Mexican and Alaskan Gray wolves at the California Wolf Center in Julian, CA. You can see the entire album of these eight Mexican and Alaskan Gray Wolves on California Wolf Center's Facebook page. The names of these wolves include: Inuk, Chaco, Kiana, Taku and Ketchikan. Wolves such as these inspired my song and music video, LEADERS OF THE PACK. This video has a slideshow of beautiful wolf photos, courtesy of All -About -Wolves. You can also find the lyrics to this animal song for kids below. Please read and sing along with me! Soon we will be recording this song for our next CD. Stay tuned! Silly Wolf Photo from California Wolf CenterCategory: Animal Songs-Wolves Published: Friday, July 29, 2011 Dear Friends, Check out this silly wolf photo from the California Wolf Center in Julian, CA. You can see the entire album of these silly wolf photos on California Wolf Center's Facebook page. Wolves such as these inspired my song and music video, LEADERS OF THE PACK. This video has a slideshow of beautiful wolf photos, courtesy of All -About -Wolves. You can watch my kids music video LEADERS OF THE PACK on my December, 2009 blog post. You can also find the lyrics to this animal song for kids below. Please read and sing along with me! We will be in the music studio this autumn to record this song for our next CD. Stay tuned! Wolf Pups Video from California Wolf CenterCategory: Animal Songs-Wolves Published: Wednesday, July 27, 2011 Check out this video of wolf pups from the California Wolf Center in Julian, CA, uploaded in June, 2011. These pups were born this past Spring. Wolf families such as these inspired my song and music video, LEADERS OF THE PACK. This video has a slideshow of beautiful wolf photos, courtesy of All -About -Wolves. You can watch my kids music video LEADERS OF THE PACK on my December, 2009 blog post. You can find the lyrics to this animal song for kids below. Please read and sing along with me! We will be in the music studio this year to record this song for our upcoming CD. Stay tuned! Watch DOLPHIN DINNER - An animal video about dolphins by National GeographicCategory: Animal Song Videos Published: Saturday, July 09, 2011 Dear Friends. This is a fun National Geographic kids' video about dolphins. Here you will see a pod of dolphins using their sounds to locate large schools of anchovies. After locating the fish, they then use dolphin teamwork to catch the anchovies for dinner. Echolation and cooperation are the names of the game in this educational kids video. You can watch more natiuonal geographic videos at National Geographic Kids Online. You can also watch my animal song video about dolphins and echolocation, called Clickety Clack, in a previous blog post. In the video you will find the dolphin photos by NOAA and the lyrics of the song so that you can sing along. Clickety-Clack is the first song on my CD IF I WERE A FISH and other Ocean Songs for Kids by Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders. I love seeing dolphins off the coast of California where I live. I hope you enjoy these dolphin videos. -Birdsong 
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