Music has long been used to teach fundamental skills. Most of us learned the ABCs by singing the alphabet song. But the ABCs aren’t the only things children can learn from music. Songs can be used in a variety of ways in the classroom, including to strengthen language skills like pronunciation, grammatical structure, and vocabulary.
Music and learning go hand-in-hand!
Besides teaching academic skills, music aids in memorization and the retention of knowledge. Music paired with text helps children recall information.
Use Cantata Learning to help your students
build skills and meet standards
Cantata Learning combines engaging stories, delightful illustrations, and fun songs for a complete multi-sensory learning experience that engages every type of learner.
Cantata Learning titles support the entire curriculum from language arts and social studies to STEAM. Our books are ideal for reading levels preK—grade 3, but our songs appeal to students of all ages!
Cantata Learning leadership team
We are educators, librarians, authors, and musicians who are dedicated
to supporting joyful and enriching learning experiences.
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Robert J. CoughlanOwner & Principal
Robert J. Coughlan
Owner & Principal
Bob, with his brother Jim, are the fourth-generation of Coughlans leading the diversified Coughlan Companies, Inc. As the family-owned company expanded with stone, banking, land development holdings and publishing, it developed centralized management and administrative services to serve its two operating companies: Capstone and Jordan Sands. Before Bob’s tenure on the Board, he served in a variety of executive leadership positions in the manufacturing and publishing industries. Bob enjoys being involved in CEO peer to peer roundtables. He graduated from Gonzaga University, Spokane, with a B.A. in History.
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Katherine Coughlan HobsonGeneral Manager
Katherine Coughlan Hobson
General Manager
Katherine earned her Master’s degree in education and a Colorado Teaching License through the Boulder Journey School Teacher Education Program and University of Colorado at Denver. She has experience in children’s publishing, working with children and educators in multiple environments, and developing curriculum. Katherine is inspired by the curiosity, joy and wonder of children. She hopes to support children by offering multiple “languages” with which to make meaning of their world and express themselves, including music, movement and art. Katherine enjoys spending time playing outside in Colorado with her husband, daughter and dog.
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Patricia StocklandPublisher
Patricia Stockland
Publisher
Patricia has written more than seventy books for children and young adults, garnering national and regional awards, including a nomination as a MAGS scholar. Prior to joining Cantata Learning, Patricia was Vice President, Editor in Chief at Lerner Publishing Group. She attended the University of St. Thomas and earned a Mini Master of Marketing Management degree. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Literature from Minnesota State University, Mankato.
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Elizabeth DraperMusic Director
Elizabeth Draper
Music Director
Elizabeth grew up in a musical family and has played professionally since she was 13. She attended Interlochen Arts Academy and the Perpich Center for Arts Education in MN where she studied music performance, graduating from the latter in 2000. She then attended the University of Minnesota where she studied under Chris Brown the principal bassist of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. She graduated in 2004 with a degree in Classical Bass Performance. She has played in countless ensembles in diverse styles ranging from jazz to classical to rock and Americana. Elizabeth has taught private music lessons since 1998 and in classroom settings since 2007. She is currently the bassist for the Grammy-Award winning children’s group The Okee Dokee Brothers.
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Shannon McClintock MillerTeacher Librarian Consultant
Shannon McClintock Miller
Teacher Librarian Consultant
Shannon is a mom and Eric’s wife. She served as the K-12 district teacher librarian at Van Meter Community School District in Iowa for 8 years. Shannon is now an international speaker and consultant who speaks about education, librarianship, technology, Makerspaces, social media, and making a difference in education and the lives of others, especially children. She is also a book and blog author, including the award-winning The Library Voice blog, and enjoys writing for various blogs, journals and other forums. In 2014, she was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker and in 2016, she was awarded the Make It Happen Award by ISTE.
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Bev LarsonOperations & Production
Bev Larson
Operations & Production
Bev joined the Cantata Learning team in December of 2014. She has ten years of children’s book publishing experience, working as a production and project manager for Capstone, and brings much needed and valued organization to the chaotic and creative world of book publishing. Bev is a graduate of South Central College in North Mankato, MN and has furthered her education with courses in project management, team building, and finance. When not at work, Bev volunteers as a Family Support Partner for Habitat for Humanity of South Central Minnesota, sharing her strong sense of family and community in order to help empower others. Bev enjoys action-adventure books and movies with strong female leads that overcome all obstacles and, of course, lives happily ever after.
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Tim PalinDesigner/Art Director
Tim Palin
Designer/Art Director
After graduating from Salem State College, Tim started his design career in event and marketing companies in greater Boston. When he moved from Boston to NYC he became Promotional Art Director for ELLEgirl Magazine, working with fashion brands including America’s Next Top Model, Marc Ecko, TJMaxx and Baby Phat. Eventually, he moved into book publishing as Senior Designer for Disney Editions/Disney Press. Tim has art directed and produced books for both the children’s and adult contemporary markets for publishers including Race Point Publishing, Sterling Innovation, Scholastic Books, Blue Apple Books, Girl Scouts of America, Hinkler Books, Enchanted Lion Books, PrintMatters, Thunder Bay Press, The Book Shop Ltd., and Octane Press.
Meet a few Cantata Learning authors, illustrators & musicians
Nadia Higgins
Author
Nadia Higgins is the author of 60 books for the school library market. She has also worked as an editor in the industry for almost ten years. Many of Nadia’s books have a science bent, but she also writes about history, biography, pop culture, and language arts. With every title, she seeks to engage a young reader’s natural curiosity, always looking for the odd fact, that great quote, or telling detail. Many of her picture books use word play, humor, or fiction techniques to captivate a child.
Charles Ghigna
Children’s Author & Poet
Charles Ghigna — Father Goose® — lives in a treehouse in the middle of Alabama. He is an award-winning poet, children’s author, speaker, and nationally syndicated feature writer who helps promote the love of poetry and children’s literature throughout the world. He is the author of more than 5,000 poems and 100 books and recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Mary Roberts Rinehart Foundation. Charles served as poet-in-residence and chair of creative writring at the Alabama School of Fine Arts for nearly twenty years, and was poetry editor of The English Journal for the National Council of Teachers of English.
Blake Hoena
Children’s Author
Blake Hoena is a poet and children’s book author, and every now and then he sits down with his guitar to pluck out a silly song. He lives in St. Paul, MN, with his wife, two kids, and a handful of pets.
Emily Arrow
Singer/Songwriter
Originally from Ohio, Emily was a silly kid who played a lot of piano, read a lot of books, and forced a lot of squirmy neighborhood friends to be in her “kids only choir.” Fast forward to now and…she’s still silly, she still sings incessantly, and she still loves books! Emily is the 2015 Winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in the Children’s Category for her song The Curious Garden Song. Emily was also a finalist in the 2015 Great American Song Contest and the 2014 John Lennon Songwriting Contest.
Erik Koskinen
Musical Artist
Musically sprouted from the blend of American folk, country, rock-n-roll, and blues, Erik Koskinen and his top-shelf band realize a sound that is distinctive and fresh while familiar and classic. Koskinen’s albums are a lyrical and musical metaphor of American’s theaters of war, of history, of relationships, and of the reflections in the mirror. Knowing but not didactic, Koskinen channels the ways of Whitman and reverently enters the anthology of uniquely crafted wry songs with the likes of Woody Guthrie and Ry Cooder while speaking as plainly as your neighbor.
Luke Flowers
Illustrator & Author
Luke Flowers is an illuminator of the imagination from Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he lives with his wife and three kids. When he is not illustrating and writing children’s books in his cozy creative cave, he finds deep inspiration in strumming on his guitar or banjo, adventures with his family, and savoring a unique blend of music, movies, coffee and books … lots and lots of books.
Misa Saburi
Illustrator
Misa focuses on illustration and drawing. Through her artwork, she tries to make her life experience lighter and breezier — not weighed down by gravity. The flatness of printmaking, the delicate textures in papermaking, the fragile nature of soft wood all fit with her emphasis on lightness. Misa is certified as a K-8 arts educator in Massachusetts. She was born in Sleepy Hollow, NY; raised in Tokyo, Japan; and now lives in Brooklyn, NY. She makes pictures using Photoshop, sometimes while watching soccer and silly Japanese TV shows.
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