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It's funny. Laugh. Books Media Book Reviews

Worst Band In The Universe 51

Posted by timothy from the timothy-sings dept.
For Slashdotters lucky enough to have kids, small siblings, cousins, or the occasional need to babysit for those who do, NVH Engr's review of Graeme Base's Worst Band In the Universe might be helpful. Finding kids' books interesting enough to read out loud without destroying the reader's brain cells is a tough job, but it sounds like it might be just slightly easier now.

The Worst Band In the Universe
author Graeme Base
pages 44
publisher Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
rating 9.9
reviewer NVH Engr
ISBN 0810939983
summary Sprocc Innovates new music and is exiled by the Musical Inquisitor. A small group of fellow exiles group together to fight the Status Quo. How they possibly succeed?

The Scenario

On Planet Blipp, the world is ruled by music, however only the Traditional Songs are allowed; innovation is a horrible crime. (Sounds like one of my previous employers!) I found this book at Thinker Toys in Akron around the middle of 1999 and was immediately enthralled. My wife thinks I bought it for Caitlin, our then-2-year-old daughter, and I still read it to her every chance I get (to keep up the facade...).

This is the story of a young alien that just cannot stop innovating. Like all Blippians, he loves to sing and play music but he constantly finds himself Improvising when he should not be. This book chronicles his escape from Blipp just ahead of the law and his adventures surrounding an underground band contest, "The Worst Band In The Universe" where the best and most innovative --and illegal-- music would be rewarded. To me, this is a story of Innovation versus Status Quo and, yes, my blood boils as I am reminded how easy it is for Status Quo to beat down Innovation.

Of course, this is a children's book, so I dare not give away the ending.

To my daughter Caitlin this is a brightly illustrated poem that is incredibly easy and fun to listen to. It opens up a whole new set of experiences; aliens, conflict, petty authority, adventure, loud music, and new words. The art work is truly astounding. Find a copy in the nearest library, if only to look at the art work (Read the book, too, while you are there.)

What's Bad?

Alpha-10 --one of the songs on the enclosed CD. The full title is "Alpha 10 (semi-instr. version 57.7)," performed by The Amazing Centrifugal Blortcrooners of Alpha 10. Do not let your children hear this song --they may very well prefer it over Barney. Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a little here ...

On the bright side, it is only 1:30 long and causes loud squeals of delight from my child. ;-)

Seriously, though, this book depicts authority figures as being potentially arbitrary and self-serving. Those who do not wish to expose their children to these kinds of concepts would be advised to hide their copy until the kids are old enough to understand.

What's Good?

Splingtwangers and a Power Axe -- these are the musical instruments du jour. Blipp is a planet that loves to rock!

Inside the back cover is a CD containing nine of the songs from the contest, "The 18th Annual Worst Band in the Universe Competition." That CD now has a permanent home in my CD jukebox so my daughter and I can dance to it whenever we want. The music is surprisingly high quality and fun to listen to. Her favorite song is "Alpha 10" but I am hoping she will grow out of it. In addition, the lyrics are printed inside the back cover, which makes some songs a little easier to understand. The songs parallel the story and add another level to the experience, much like the filk songs of science fiction conventions. For example, Ancient Melody #42 (performed anonymously, as per tradition) is a haunting instrumental that simultaneously speaks to the grandeur and elegance of times past as well as to the stifling of times present. Other songs have a faster, more upbeat rhythm, with lyrics about space travel and the exciting-though-vagabond existence of an Innovator. There is a joy in this music that is hard to quantify.

The storytelling is riveting. The plot makes several surprising turns. At a particularly bleak point, a band technician (Button Pusher) steps in and nervously saves the day.

So What's In It For Me?

A book with color pictures, an engaging storyline, a real plot, a cool CD with 8 excellent songs (and then some). Gosh, what else could you want?

I liked this book, mainly because there is a real story here. This is not just cutesy drivel with good marketing and hype. It speaks to a fundamental conflict between "new ideas" and "the way things currently are". This story chronicles that conflict from the innovator's view which makes it a must-read for the other people in your life. But it also confronts the reader with the fear and uncertainty felt by the non-innovators and the innocent bystanders. This is a view point I often need to be reminded of.

And it is fun to read to children.

You can purchase this book from Fatbrain.
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Worst Band in the Universe More

Worst Band in the Universe

Comments Filter:

  • The songs ... (Score:3)

    by psergiu ( 67614 ) on Sunday November 05, 2000 @06:23AM (#648389)
    And from where can we l33ch the mp3z if you're so gentle ?

    --
  • Windows 2000 Editing important file Blue screen of death

  • Worst band (Score:3)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 05, 2000 @06:28AM (#648391)
    "CmdrTaco and the Cowboy Beeboppers"

    songs include:
    "If it ain't Debian, it ain't gettin' on." - an upbeat party song
    "Fsck me, I hate Microsoft" - this was where they branched out into GeekMetal
    "Signal 11, bye bye bye" - a touching ballad
    "I'm the real Bruce Perens" - a cover version
  • Wow, i thought it was high tech reading when i was little and got to turn the page in my copy of "Bambi" whenever the record went "ding!"....

    It sounds interesting, though- a sci-fi for preschoolers. Maybe if i had read things like this when i was young, i wouldn't have waited so long to read Hitchiker's Guide. ;)
  • LOL! This is QUITE funny. :) I haven't laughed this hard in a while. My thanks to whoever posted/thought this up. And no, I don't think this is funny just because I'm dead tired and haven't slept yet.

    This is worth positive moderation. Too bad my mod points ran out about 4 hours ago...

    -------
    CAIMLAS

  • Might I recommend to the Slashdot forum: (Score:3)

    by Byteme ( 6617 ) on Sunday November 05, 2000 @06:42AM (#648394) Homepage
    Penguin Dreams By J. Otto Seibold and V. L. Walsh - What does a Tux penned up at the Zoo dream about? Space travel and flight? Home at the arctic?

    Zoom by Istvan Banyai - No words, just a pespective that zooms out of a micro scale world out to a final view of the Earth. Great art.

    Charlie Parker Played Be Bop By Chris Raschka - Fantastic art and great word-play in a poem about Jazz.

  • In their world only traditional songs are allowed, yet they group together to fight the Status Quo ...

    Whats wrong with "Caroline", "Rocking All Over The World" and all the other Quo classics ? ;)

    Seriously though my kid Alex should love this, one more for the Christmas list.

  • I unfortunately only have Break Like The Wind. But check out the new This Is Spinal Tap DVD. LOTS of extras.

    Canuckanuck

  • Graeme Base (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Graeme Base writes excellent books for children. Particularly good are Animalia and The 11th Hour. If you have kids and have never heard of these books, get them, children love 'em.

  • Re:Worst band (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    As the original poster, I disagree.

    Bruce
    The real Bruce Perens posts as an Anonymous Coward. Anyone else is an impostor.
  • Slashdotters with kids? Now I've seen it all! [slashdot.org]

    Seriously, though. Are there many /.ers with kids? Anyone?

  • I can remeber reading this guys stuff as a child. It has always been really interesting to me. If you are into childrens books that have incredibly cool pictures and neat, interesting story lines then i would suggest checking out two of his other books.

    The Sign of the Seahorse: A quasi arthurian tale told under the sea for effect. This is a good guys beat bad guys type of story. Its told in verse so if you dont dig it then dont read it.

    The Eleventh Hour: This one is story about a birthday party where all of the food gets stolen. After reading the story through its your job to figure out who did it. A lot if fun, even for adults. You crypto guys might actually have some fun with this.

    Just my .2

    Lissell

  • Spicy (Score:3)

    by CMU_Nort ( 73700 ) on Sunday November 05, 2000 @07:44AM (#648401) Homepage

    And here I thought it was gonna be a book about the Spice Girls...

  • Any chance we could have a "books for kids" section on slashdot ?

    I reckon there must be a lot of /.'ers that have children or grand children that would love to buy them books that really educate them.

    Perhaps I'm showing my age but after all the dreamcast/playstation non-stories of the last week
    we get some stuff that really matters. Thank you /.

    Thanks Timothy, any ideas for books to ween my kid of the Teletubbies and the Tweenies are greatly appreciated.
  • Without a doubt, L Band. Full of noise from ancient radiolocation systems, diathermy machines, inadequate spread spectrum systems, and crappy propagation to boot.

    -=N9FZX

  • I've got a young 'un due in two days. Geeks must breed lest jocks and models take over everything, forming an unsustainable gene pool.
  • My personal favorite book of his is The Discovery Of Dragons (of something like that) -- a mock scientific on the founding fathers and 'mother' of serpentology. The book is one big joke from beginning to end, including the introduction, credits, and note from the publishers, and an absolutely hilarious read. It's got all sorts of hidden jokes you may not catch until reading it a couple of times.

    Not to mention the gorgeous artwork that covers all his books. Graeme Base is definitely one of my favorite children's authors -- right up there with the author of Munschworks and JK Rowling. (I read aloud to my little siblings . . . I got a 10 year old to sit all the way through book 4! That's 700 pages!)

    Anyway, I think I'm done rambling.

  • Wow. Beat me. Whip me. Make me write bad checks.

    How again was this a troll, Mr. Moderator-man, Mr. Police-the-Net-man? Hmmm?

    H-U-M-O-R.

    Break Like The Wind was second only to The Black Album.

    Tap Rules.
  • Also, let me mention that burning Karma is a sure sign you said something good.
  • CS Lewis once said that if a childrens story can't be enjoyed by an adult, it's not a good childrens story. Check out his excellent Narnia series sometime (starting with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe).
  • Have any of you heard about the Harry Potter books? They [scholastic.com] are aparrently very good. The entire of the UK was going mad over them a couple of months ago.

  • Might I also recommend Anthem by Ayn Rand. It's very short, and scratches the surface of the world of Objectivism, in language that is simple enough for ten-year-old, but sophisticated enough for even the snootiest of literary critics.

    Another great one along this topic is of course Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.


    ----------
  • Zoom by Istvan Banyai - No words, just a pespective that zooms out of a micro scale world out to a final view of the Earth. Great art.

    That sounds like Powers of Ten. I forget who that was by though. Powers of Ten did the same thing except it starts at like 10^9 meters or something and goes to 10^-9 meters. A very cool book, does anyone know who the author is?

  • I am sure that a number of people here have kids, and they most likely read to their children a great deal. The only thing that I don't like about the review is that that the "it is boring to read these books" line caves in to the whole "we fear children" mentality of the 18-34 viewing/reading demographic. Just look at how children are used as props in TV shows aimed at this audience.

    If you are a parent, the most important thing that you can do with your kids (apart from the expected loving/feeding bit) is to read to them. And the most important thing about reading to them is that you do with entheustiastically in such a way that you not only read to them, but you demonstrate the pleasure that you are taking in reading.

    Have to agree with the other posters, though, that it is good to see somting kid related that is not about a gaming console or cracking school filtering systems.

  • Yep, Son 7 and daughter 4.

    Why is that so surprising? Is the assumption anyone over the age of 22&1/2 is too dim to get open source? Or are we all assumed to be sterile or gay or something?
  • And you call the Spinal Tap Reference a TROLL? Well, OK then.
  • Actually, the first book in this series is The Magician's Nephew , telling the story of the first children to find the land of Narnia, who bring back a sapling of a magical tree. When the tree is chopped down many years later, it's wood is made into a wardrobe (which later becomes famous in book 2 of the series).
  • I've never seen a kid crack that 11th Hour book - and I've seen it stump a heap of adults.(Nothing like sitting around on Christmas Day watching a bunch of adults trying to crack a kids book - sorry kids, you can have it later). Definately one for the christmas list. Base does great quality kids books that fit the Lewis Carroll criteria nicely.
  • Yep, one small proto-geek in our household. Currently 2.5 years old; she's been using a computer since just before she turned 1.0.
  • Two daughters. 6 & 3.5
  • Graeme Base's books are really good; here's a list of them all: My Grandma lived in Gooligulch Animalia The 11th Hour The Sign of the Seahorse The Discovery of Dragons The Worst Band in the Universe Of these, I would recommend Animalia, The 11th Hour, and The Sign of the Seahorse as his best
  • Check out his excellent Narnia series sometime (starting with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe)

    Depends on the kid. The religious allegories present in that series are extremely transparent, and I recall being disgusted with them when I read the books at about age 7 or 8. Kids who were raised Jewish/Muslim/Hindu/Discordian will most likely not be amused, to say nothing of their parents!

    Same problem with Madeline L'Engel's stuff, though the religious content is a bit more subtle. Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley, OTOH, is excellent. However, most kids wouldn't be able to plow through it until they're 10 or 11.

  • For now, a 4 year old girl who prefers GIMP to MS Paint and plays LEgo with me.

    George
  • I would also reccomend his book The 11th Hour. It was one of the best books I've ever experienced. I use the word experience because it really was. All of the pictures wer filled with all kinds of puzzles and the whole book was a mystery in its self. Whether or not you have kids(Great to do with them) get yourself a copy of this book!!!!
  • They only fear children because they'll be competition before you know it!
  • Is the assumption anyone over the age of 22&1/2 is too dim to get open source?

    Quite the opposite. Only a bunch 19 & 20 year olds could post some of the immature crap that shows up here.

    (Go ahead, mod me down. See if I care.)

  • Both of these are described in a similar manner, neither is clearly a children's book. Each sounds very interesting.

    Zoom appears to be slightly different. Powers of Ten is scientific and to scale. Zoom uses a trick where the image that you pan out of may be inside a TV, on a postcard or on a billboard. Still, it is quite the trick on the eye... and the entire journey is a cohesive series of images.

    Thanks for recommending Powers of Ten. That will be my next purchase for my son.

  • Should'nt that be .02?
  • Well RUSH thought it was a pretty good read, and some of their music is inspired by Ayn Rand.
  • Geez.. I got an 8 year old who loves to play UT. And just started teaching him on the basics of programing.. :) He already is the guy at school who helps the other kids with the computer stuff... He used to think nerd and geek were bad names, now he wants to be/is one..

    I think it should be the duty for /.'ers to be fruitful and mutiply. We have genes worth passing on.

  • Top notch series of books, As a child i read them MANY times. sometimes I think they are what helped me think in a more creative way than the rest of the flock I went to highschool with. Yes i said "Flock" I manipulated them all at will, far to easy to get them all to do what i weanted them to.
  • Do I have kids of my own? No, but I'm a camp counselor who works with grades 3-12 and always looking for deep children's literature. Sure there's value in the classics like The Giviving Tree, and anything by Seuss. But what about something with a more modern tone? A lot of the campers that that I've taught seem to have a routine complex that causes a boatload of angst; many childeren feel the need to conform to their peers which seem to have constantly changing standards. A few things I like to tell them:
    "Being Popular is lame."
    "Many people sink their worth in being different just to be like their own kind"

    Back to the topic, I'm definately picking up the book. Anyone out there have suggestions for helping kids deal with the status quo?

    Appolgies to Five Iron Frenzy for the quotes.
  • I have read all of the Harry Potter books - they are incredible. Everyone in my family (all over 18) has read them too. What CS Lewis said was true. The Potter books present issues like individuality, bullying, good and evil. The main character does break the rules most of the time, but he usually pays the price when he does. A school district in Ontario banned the books because they "condone witchcraft". These books are intelligent fun for everyone

  • In the search for the worst band in the (known) universe, only one name comes to mind: The Tragically Hip.

    Only if you live in Canada, where you're forced to endure their horrible, whiny vocalist over and over because of Canadian Content laws, can you really begin to understand the scope of the torment.

    Their song "Bobcageon", played all through the summer of 1999, was marketed as rock, and since it's Canadian and was new at the time, it was one of the songs that Q107 [q107.com] and other Canadian radio stations had to use to fill the 40% of their airtime that has to be new Canadian music.

    Bobcageon is one of those rare and special songs that makes you crave the weight of a 20 lb sledgehammer in your hands.

    And, when you're heard it once on the way to work and once on the way home every day for a week, you're craving an equal-size pickaxe instead of a hammer.

  • > "CmdrTaco and the Cowboy Beeboppers"

    > songs include:

    "The Real Gates Blues"
    "Bad Hemos, No Biscuit"

    Chris Mattern

  • Please keep with the geek mentality. Your daughter is 011110 months old.
  • my wife and i just launched our first product this weekend. he's fast asleep in one arm, like a warm football, while i learn to type with one hand without waking him...

  • Yep. A stepdaughter aged 9, and a kid of my own aged -7 months. It broadens the mind to have a home PC full of cyber-mammals (Curious George and Reader Rabbit to name just two).
  • How old are your kids? My 18month old loves Dr. Seuss. Basically anything that rhymes and includes lots of pictures he can recognize. I guess that appeals to his developing senses. Richard Scarry Busy Town books are great for the pictures too.
  • shut the ufck up poser
    ----
  • Blimey, yours went ding? When I was a lad we had to wait until the end of the page while mother hummed what she thought were appropriate background noises. Times change. thank god.

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