SIMON B. RHYMIN'

with Ellien Holi

SIMON B' RHYMIN' is the story of a young boy who likes to imagine that he's a famous rapper, but the rest of the world sees him as a small, shy kid. At the start of a new school year, he gets a new teacher: the gregarious, rapping Mr. Reed. As much as Simon likes Mr. Reed, when Mr. Reed makes him give a presentation in front of the class, he's terrified: Simon gets stage-freight. An unlikely ally helps him gain the confidence to ace the presentation, and he learns a lot about overcoming your fears and how fun school can be along the way.

Dwayne Reed also known as "Teach Mr Reed", the rapping teacher on social media. His rapping videos - which encourage students to be enthusiastic about school and engage with the world - have been wildly popular online. "Welcome to the 4th Grade" has over 1.6 million views, and his other videos - about counting coins ("Change"), and how to best start your day ("Morning Song") - have hundreds of thousands of views.

llustrated by Robert Paul Jr.