You love space music. You love children’s books. So yeah, here are two book projects worthy of your attention.
First up is a little project you may have heard about: Canadian illustrator Andrew Klob‘s visual adaptation of David Bowie’s classic Space Oddity. You remember the song right? Our hero travels to orbit, loses contact, loses control and drifts away into the void—perhaps to die, perhaps to become one with the cosmos. Hey, it was the late 60s. Either way, it’s not a song that instantly screams for adaptation into children’s literature.
And yet Klob’s retro-fueled and undeniably cute artistic style really has everyone convinced. The book became an instant internet sensation but as the New Yorker’s Ian Crouch points out here, there’s a problem: the book doesn’t exist and may never exist due to copyright issues. Will Bowie’s people and Klob come to some sort of agreement, or will this project just drift off into the void?
Either way, check out this cool music video from Simon Victor Films that combines the two artists’ work to maximum effect:
Want a cosmic children’s book you can actually old in your hands right now? Well look no further than Kid Koala’s Space Cadet.
For those unfamiliar with the man, Kid Koala is a Canadian DJ, musician and occasional graphic novelist with a real talent for melodic turntabling. He hosts a series of lovely-sounding Music to Draw To shows as well, where there’s no dancing allowed. Instead, participants enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and get creative on canvas, sketchbook or laptop while Koala unleashes some sonic soothing on the decks.
In Space Cadet, Kid Koala delivers that same sensibility with a combo children’s book and “Original Still Picture Score” album to accompany it. The wordless, black-and-white pages tell the story of a a little girl who dreams of space exploration and the short order cooking robot she has to leave behind on Earth to achieve those goals.
It’s also a tale of technology, isolation and family connectivity across generations. I won’t spoil anything, but it’s an adorable tale that may result in a few tears toward the end.
The book is set up so that each track lines up with particular pages of the book, so you can progress through both at the same time for maximum effect. The book and album are available in both digital and physical releases from Ninja Tune.
Originally posted at HSW: Two Amazing Musical Space Books for Kids
Robert Lamb is a senior staff writer at HowStuffWorks.com and co-host of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast and blog. He is also a regular contributor to Discovery News. Follow him on Twitter @blowthemind.
