This study, framed through a lens of Radical Change, examines selected Canadian and American picture books featuring characters with disabilities. While aspects of diversity such as cultural difference are consciously included in contemporary children’s books, differences related to disability are often absent. In this study, qualitative content analysis identifies patterns, trends, and themes related to characterizations that involve disabilities, proposing critical literacy as a framework through which children may interrogate messages in text and illustration.

In this paper, we outline the rationale and growing research base for parent-child music programs as a means to strengthen caregiver-child bonding, with particular interest in positively impacting the lives of adolescent mothers and their infants. Secondary schools that offer daycare and parenting classes are ideal sites for delivering parent-child music programs, and music educators are well situated to become involved in such initiatives.

This article begins with questions that arose during my experiences as a young musician touring with a band. I explore answers to these questions through examining the difference between the mind and the brain and describing selected research on the effects of music on the brain. I then review the literature on the presence and power of music in adolescent and young adult life. Lastly, I apply these findings to learning.

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