The bad news: Our kids live in a world where bullying has become an overwhelming, unrelenting occurrence. The good news: Producers Steve Pullara, James Cravero, Pat Robinson, Kevin Mackie, and Gloria Domina have skillfully compiled thirty-seven lessons in voice, verse, and song that deliver seventy-four minutes of teachable moments.

A diverse line up of children's music talent have contributed to this CD (Frances England, Barry Louis Polisar, Oran Etkin, The Battersby Duo, and Jonathan Sprout, just to name a few). The collection is designed to explore why we bully and why we shouldn't. What makes us different isn't bad, and difference is often good. The album teaches how simple gestures can break the tension and open worlds of warmth and friendship.

It's comforting music for children who are taunted for having to use wheel chairs, demonized for being fat, mocked for speaking with an accent, or who are simply not chosen first for a sports team. The songs, short stories, and poems may not cure the isolation and hurt, but tracks like "Labels" ("A label belongs on a jar full of pickles/They won't go on me/ and I won't let then stick") can help. From the bully on the school bus ("Bully on the Bus Billy"), to the terrors of opening a newly "decorated" locker ("I Opened My Locker") various travails are depicted. Songs reminding listeners to have "Courage", and another titled "Until I Met Tim", are a few examples of the lessons and inspiration for overcoming bullying. Each track is something to which we all should pay attention.