THE WORST BAND IN THE UNIVERSE

Steven Spielberg meets Lewis Carroll via Jimmy Page in this latest opus from the irrepressible Base (The Discovery of Dragons, 1998, etc.). Young Sprocc from the planet Blipp can’t help himself; he takes up his Splingtwanger, turns the volume up to ten and plays a new tune, even though it is forbidden. For this he’s banished, and hooks up with a underground group competing in the Worst Band contest. They win, but it’s a trick, and they are sent to Wastedump B19 where the great PowerAxe wielder Skat, bitter and cynical, resides. They escape on a music-powered spacecraft, save Blipp from destruction and free the music (with Skat’s help). The story is told in the most amazing verse, complete with descriptions of a bad guy “grobulous with rage,” and a place where “All reggoid beats prohibited. No rok, no phfunk, no jyve.” Base’s extraordinary sense of detail and his riot of color are taken to a new dimension here, in almost indescribable scenes of SF mayhem. He thoughtfully includes not only a list of characters but a CD of the music. Reading this one aloud may lead to riotous story hours. (Picture book. 6-12)