Worst Band in the Universe
Australian author and illustrator Graeme Base's books are all musical,  butThe Worst Band in the Universe(with its accompanying 25-minute CD) clearly trumpets the loudest... in aBlippiansort of way. LikeThe Eleventh Hour,The Sign of the Seahorse, andAnimalia,Worst Bandtakes place in a nonhuman context, this time in a dystopian planetary system far from Earth.The premise is this: Sprocc, expert at the guitarlikesplingtwanger, has the creative itch to write songs. But alas, his planet, Blipp, has strict creative rules about music. All songs must come directly from tradition, so Sprocc's desire to "call the tune... or else forsake the stage" leads to his exile from Blipp and a variety of galactic run-ins with authority. This includes the "Worst Band in the Universe" contest which, of course, is actually abestband contest that takes him deeper into dismal realms. Sprocc sharpens his musical delivery, hooks up with another long-time Blipp exile, and eventually the planet is freed from the rigorous creative restrictions with a mix of innovation and tradition.In the tangle of rhyming couplets and fantastical illustrations is plenty of food for thought. On a purely musical level,The Worst Band in the Universeis an instructive volume, complete with a CD of Blippian music. It's a profound creation, conjured so that its ingredients will reward scrutiny. (Ages 7 and older)--Andrew Bartlett