Martha was asked by CARAS, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, to be one of the jurors for the 'Best Children's Album' category for this year's JUNO AWARDs. Many hours of listening went into the process of narrowing down the entrants to her choices for the initial and then final nominee lists. "There was a wide range of styles and creative ability on the children's CDs but I felt confident I had made the right choices by the time the JUNO AWARD show was presented in March.", says Martha.

The JUNO went to Susan Hammond for her CD "A Classical Kids Christmas", a collection of classical carols and classic poetry that tell the traditions and the story of Christmas.

Two other CDs Martha highly recommends for young listeners and their families from this year's JUNO entrants are:

"Call Of The Wild" by Aaron Burnett (Independent) "Acoustic / Bluegrass music for the young and slightly older", Aaron's debut children's CD is themed around 13 songs about Canadian animals. The jaunty country/bluegrass arrangements are of a high musical calibre and with humourous lyrics that entertain and inform, "Call Of The Wild" would also make a great teaching aid to introduce young children to some of our country's most notable creatures.

Email:aaronburnett@yahoo.ca


"A Smooth Road To London Town" by Kathy Reid-Naiman (Merriweather Records) This charming collection of 27 mainly traditional songs for small children are favourites of families who attend The Parent-Child Mother Goose Program across Canada. One of the goals of this non-profit charitable organisation is to encourage parents and other care-givers to share rhymes, songs and stories with their young children in their lives together. One of my favourite tunes is "Simple Gifts" a traditional Shaker hymn. I liked it so much I'm thinking about doing my own version of the song for my next children's CD!

Merriweather Records, 109 Crawford Rose Drive, Aurora, ON, Canada L4G 4S1 Phone: 905-841-1879 Fax: 905-841-0119 Email: ragged@interlog.com Website: www.interlog.com/~ragged

The Parent-Child Mother Goose Program, 720 Bathurst Street, Suite 402, Toronto ON, Canada M5S 2R4 Phone: 416-588-5234 Fax: 416-588-1355 Email: mgoose@web.net