Editorials

[ From the Spring 2026 Issue ] Children’s Music is weird. While virtually all other genres are defined by instruments, techniques and cultural associations, Children’s Music isn’t. How would you define it? Often (but not always) it features an acoustic guitar and/or a ukulele. Often (but not always) its melodies, lyrics, structures and arrangements are simple. Often (but not always) it teaches a lesson or moral. Often (but not always) it pulls from a canon of folk songs, scho

[From the Winter 2025 issue] We've all been there. You meet someone at a party. You let slip that you’re a musician. Their ears perk up as they picture you rocking Massey Hall. You're suddenly cool. They press for details. You add the qualifier: “Children’s.” “Ah,” they deflate. It's not that they don't think you’re cool; thanks to Golden Age nostalgia and universally beloved Freds (Rogers and Penner) and their universally beloved sweaters, Children’s Music still has some cul

[From the Fall 2025 issue] I joined an indie rock band when I was 15. For a decade, I made music for people who were about the same age as me. Then, at 25, I switched to almost exclusively making music for children. Many of you could tell a similar story. Why? I’ve thought a lot about this over the years: Why Children's Music? It could be a pragmatic choice for a musician to pivot to young listeners. Local events always need children’s entertainers, so the demand is ever pres

[From the August 2025 issue] Children’s Music was born in Canada. Folks have been making music for kids for centuries, and singular artists like Ella Jenkins, Pete Seeger and Allan Mills made important early contributions. But as a cohesive genre with a dedicated community of artists, it began in Canada and then reverberated around the world. The late-1970s and 1980s can be considered the Golden Age in Canadian Children’s Music. In 1976, Raffi released his Singable Songs for