Lil' Muffin Drops the Mic

by Romesh Ranganathan, James Lancett (Illustrator)

From comedy superstar Romesh Ranganathan comes a hilarious and heartfelt tale that proves rap battles and baking muffins really can mix. The perfect story for readers age 8+ and fans of David Baddiel and Adam B Wins the Internet!

Ever since his dad left, James can't seem to stop worrying about everything. His favourite hobby, baking, is a fun (and delicious!) distraction, but no matter how many AMAZING brownies he makes, James still feels like there's a missing ingredient in his life . . .

Until he discovers rapping, and he's COMPLETELY hooked. It's not long before James starts writing his own raps about everything - from music and cakes to his giant pet rabbit, Graham!

So when he hears that grime artist star Brukka is on the hunt for young talent, James starts to wonder: could this be his chance to share his MUFFINS, his MUSIC, and maybe even his feelings with the whole school? If he could only find the confidence . . .

Full of laugh-out-loud illustrations from bestselling illustrator James Lancett, this is the children's read of the summer!

256 pages, Hardcover

Published July 20, 2023

About the author

Romesh Ranganathan is a comedian, actor and writer. A former maths teacher, he is now known for his award-winning series The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, his weekly topical show The Ranganation, his sitcom The Reluctant Landlord and the BAFTA nominated Asian Provocateur, which features Romesh's mum.

Amongst all of this, he still manages to squeeze in time to record his award-winning podcast 'Hip Hop Saved My Life', to write his regular Midlife Crisis column for the Guardian, and to pen his bestselling autobiography, Straight Outta Crawley. DJ Muffin drops the Mic is his first children's book and gave him an excuse to write about two of his favourite things - hip hop and cake.

Reviews

[Manic Booksy Dreamgirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think a non celebrity author could've gotten away with this. It was a little haphazard.

I absolutely loved the illustrations by James Lancett, I feel the drawings made for a stronger story experiance than Romesh Ranganathan's writing unfortunately.

[Stace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schoolboy James Perera loves baking, except for his ‘Doom Dessert’, Bread and Butter Pudding Souffle which he loves eating but can’t for the life of him recreate, although it may have something to do with him only trying to bake it when he’s angry or upset, which is a lot recently.

His dad has upped and left the family alone and the school bully, Alfie Adams has it in for him. He is called ‘Scabby Bake’ by his peers who refuse to eat his cakes on the say-so of Alfie and now he’s discovered rapping but the words just won’t come out when he rap battles.

Grime artist Brukka (who looks a lot like Romesh in the illustrations) is looking for young talent and James thinks that this could be his big break, but with everything going on he isn’t sure he has the confidence to make it.

Lil’ Muffin Drops the Mic is the first children’s book by comedian Romesh Ranganathan. The plot mainly revolves around life at school and young James. It is a quick read and has some amazing black-and-white illustrations throughout.

I can see children enjoying the story given the setting and how big rap and grime music is at the moment. The writing could have been a little more fleshed out but then this is a children’s book and the basic writing style will probably appeal to its intended audience and help them to connect with the book.

Overall, the story is bang up to date with references to social media and text snippets. It has plenty of humour within the pages, including the lyrics to some very strange raps, such as one about a teddy bear, and it shows that you have to believe in yourself.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

A most suitable romp for a young read, showcasing the author's love of rap, and more. It's unfortunate the bullying storyline is going to keep this of interest to the target age range only – it's certainly not a fun or engaging plot for any other audience – but the intended reader will be well served. James actually starts the book wanting to be an ace cake maker, but the bully keeps belittling his dreams, and ruining everything. It's only accidentally – and perhaps a bit surprisingly slowly, given the emphasis on it we know to expect from the author, and the title and cover – that he falls into rapping. Very handy then that the country's biggest hip hop star is in a dry patch, and is needing a young upstart to get his mojo back. The book is certainly more than breezy enough for this to appeal to reluctant readers, never once embarrasses itself with sounding desperate, dad jokey or anything else, and has a great twist late on that nobody will see coming. A strong 4/4 stars.

[Josh Campeau · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would like to like this book more because it has an interesting plot, but the details feel a bit clunkily stuck together. I also had some issues with the way adult characters behaved in the book. Mrs. Grant, James' teacher seemed too much into his family's business and the way James' mom avoids talking about the real issue in the climax of the story seemed like a weird choice considering the way the plot was progressing.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book very entertaining to read, funny and very addictive as I wanted to know what happened next. I liked the characters and the storyline is not dull. I liked that the main character liked baking and rapping.

[Janet Owen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't one I enjoyed, I'm afraid. I knew that Romesh Ranganathan had been a teacher, so I was expecting something more enjoyable. Maybe it was aimed at an older age bracket.

[J Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Son wanted me to read it. Lovely easy read book