A Tiny Urban Zoo



A Tiny Urban Zoo is a Schoolhouse Rock! Earth song where a boy sings a story about when he became a keeper of a tiny urban zoo. This song was the winner of Parents' Choice Silver Award and Dr. Toy Best Green Product in 2009.



Song Lyrics
Boy: I thought it was a pity to be living in a city

To spot a bird or butterfly was tough

So I found a little corner for the flora and the fauna

A tub or two of dirt was just enough

It's amazing how I started with a little pack of seeds

Soon I'd grown a bunch of plants I used to think were weeds

That's how I became the keeper of a tiny urban zoo

I brought some wildflowers and things just grew

Now I got bugs and beetles, butterflies and birds

And lots of little critters far too beautiful for words

You, too, could be the keeper of a tiny urban zoo

It's really not that hard

You can plant one in your own backyard

Boy: How about a birdbath?

Girl: Do birds bathe?

Boy: Course. They need to drink too.

Girl: They drink their own bathwater? Gross!

Boy: (singing) Soon this venue had a menu

Flowers, leaves and grass

There's no finer fast-food diner

For the bugs who happen to pass

Caterpillars loved it soon began to munch

Till a passing robin came along for lunch

I became the keeper of a tiny urban zoo

Got lots of creepy crawlies now but who eats who?

The herbivores enjoy a tasty range of plants

The carnivores will eat them if they ever get a chance

You, too, could be the keeper of a tiny urban zoo

It's really not that hard

You can plant one in your own backyard

Female Bird: Look at all those morsels; We can't resist them

Male Bird: Seems he made his own little ecosystem

Boys: Birds are calling, snails are crawling,

Ladybugs abound

Bees are buzzing by the dozen

Butterflies are flitting around

Then we have the spiders; Welcome to my patch

Spin yourselves a cobweb; See what you can catch

That's how

Critters: He became the keeper of a tiny urban zoo

We all need one another or it's no can do

We don't ask for a lot; We're grateful to the child

It's just a mini version of what happens in the wild

All: You, too, could be the keeper of a tiny urban zoo

It's really not that hard

You can plant one in your own backyard

Spider: It's like a jungle out there.