National Park Service releases new children’s music CD

By RAK Staff | October 28, 2012

Here’s a fun way to get kids thinking about the environment. “Songs for Junior Rangers,” a new National Park Service CD, features 20 catchy tunes about national parks.

The CD’s 20 tracks cover a variety of subjects, including elk in “Wapiti Hoppity,” caving in “Spelunka Funka,” glaciers in “Frozen Bulldozin’” and Mount Rushmore in “Four Presidents.” Musical elements include hip hop, reggae, blues, jazz, rock, zydeco, funk, and even polka.

“The official motto of the Junior Ranger Program is ‘Explore, Learn, and Protect’ national parks and I think this music will certainly inspire children to do just that,” says National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis.

Park rangers from New Orleans Jazz and Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument appear on the album as well as many talented New Orleans musicians, and youth such as Navajo singer/songwriter Krishel Augustine and the Youth Ambassador Program from New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. The album also features celebrity guests such as the a cappella group Committed, the Grammy nominated children’s group Trout Fishing in America, and PBS personality Aaron Nigel Smith.

“Songs for Junior Rangers” is a project of the National Park Service, funded by the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks, and distributed by Eastern National, a non-profit cooperating association.

“Cultivating the next generation of park stewards is imperative to the vitality of our national park system,” says Neil Mulholland, president and CEO of the National Park Foundation. “The National Park Service’s Junior Ranger program and this new album are great ways we can engage our country’s youth, instilling a love for the parks at a young age.”

The CD is available from eParks.com. You can preview three of the songs – “Humps, Hooves, and Horns,” “La Gran Garza Azul,” and “Run Fish Run” – on YouTube.