Bed, Bed, Bed (They Might Be Giants) by They Might Be Giants
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Book Reviews of Bed, Bed, Bed (They Might Be Giants)
Book Review: I don't get it
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm a big TMBG fan. Have been since at least the late '80s. And after becoming an uncle and then, more recently, a father, I've enjoyed their foray into kids music. No! is a not only a pretty good kids CD, it's also a pretty good TMBG CD. "Four of Two" from No! is one of those great, quirky TMBG songs that both my oldest kid (almost 2 years old) and I love to sing along with and dance to.
But I just don't get this one. The songs are ok, but aren't particularly good by TMBG standards. They aren't particularly good "kids" songs, nor are they particularly good "bedtime" songs. These aren't lullabies that will help your kid settle down, rather they're upbeat songs that would be good to dance to with your kid in the middle of the day.
And there are only 4 of them, so you end up with 4 so-so songs. That's all.
Except for the book. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with the book. Am I supposed to read along with the songs as they play? That's tough to do. Am I supposed to read the book as a stand-alone text for my kids? As a kid's book, the text of the songs isn't very good. It's like reading the liner lyrics of any random TMBG CD. Admittedly, most TMBG lyrics are offbeat enough to appeal to kids on some level, sort of like Dr. Seuss. But as a book, they lack a sort of flow that makes Dr. Seuss a joy to read with kids.
I never thought that I would apply the term "self-absorbed" to a TMBG project. But here it is - a random and (very!) brief project that John put together for his kid and then decided, "What the heck, let's put it out as a CD. And tie in a book."
We bought it for $1 at a yard sale. I was pretty psyched when I spotted it since even though it also has a CD, it was in the $1 "book" box. "What a mistake!," I thought as I grabbed it and handed it to my wife. After reading the book and listening to the CD, I now see why they didn't pay more attention to pricing it. I'm still pleased with the purchase, but only given the price that I paid.
Book Review: Good songs, but book is not very user-friendly
Summary: 2 Stars
I've been a They Might Be Giants fan for several years and I am about to become a teacher, so I have been perusing many children's books lately and decided to check out Bed Bed Bed.
I listened to the book with the CD and the thing that stuck out at me the most about this book was the pacing. "Impossible" is the longest song, but all its lyrics are crammed into two spreads. While listening, I found myself becoming bored looking at those pages so long. At that point, the book just seemed like a decorated lyrics page.
"Happy Doesn't Have to Have an Ending", though only 3 spreads (including the title page), was much better paced because of its fast tempo.
"Idlewild"'s three spreads were perfect, since it was a short song with few words.
However, "Bed Bed Bed" was a whopping 11 spreads long, even though its time length was just a bit shorter than "Impossible". I know it's the title song and should probably have more emphasis, but in this case, it meant that I had to flip through one line pages so quickly that I didn't even have time to glimpse at the pictures if I wanted to keep up with the song! I would have much rather had more images of the shape-shifting imaginary creatures in "Impossible" than individual pictures of kids doing things like brushing their teeth and sitting around.
I got this book thinking that it would potentially make a unique addition for a listening center in my classroom, but if I had such a hard time keeping up with the book, I imagine my students would be even more frustrated.
If only a few changes were made, this book would be much better, but for now, if I want a visual representation of They Might Be Giant's kid songs, I'll stick to Here Come the ABC's.
Book Review: glorified EP - TMBG can do better
Summary: 2 Stars
This is essentially a They Might Be Giants EP with really fancy liner notes. One of our biggest disappointments was the title song. We have had No! for a while and the raucous "Bed Bed Bed" is one of our children's favorite "go to sleep" songs. The one here is a gentle lullaby, and lacks the musical irony of the original. The remainder of the songs have some of TMBG's quirky sense of humor.
The book was also somewhat of a disappointment. The "stories" are merely the illustrated lyrics to the songs. Some of the illustrations are entertaining, but as a stand-alone book it is rather week. The songs are not very 'sing-along'able, and the stories themselves read as the lyrics of songs rather than stories. When read with the CD, the pacing is out of kilter. Some songs have a ton of words on a few pages, while with others, we found ourselves turning the pages rapidly just to keep up with the songs.