Simon B. Rhymin'

By: Dwayne Reed

Narrated by: Dwayne Reed

Length: 3 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

A humorous and heartwarming bounce-to-the-beat underdog story about a young rapper whose rhymes help bring his community together, from America's favorite rapping teacher.

As featured on Good Morning America!

Eleven-year-old Simon Barnes dreams of becoming a world-famous rapper that everyone calls Notorious D.O.G. But for now, he's just a Chicago fifth grader who's small for his age and afraid to use his voice.

Simon prefers to lay low at school and at home, even though he's constantly spitting rhymes in his head. But when his new teacher assigns the class an oral presentation on something that affects their community, Simon must face his fears.

With some help from an unexpected ally and his neighborhood crew, will Simon gain the confidence to rap his way to an A and prove that one kid can make a difference in his 'hood?

Dwayne Reed is a Chicago teacher, whose viral back-to-school music video "Welcome to the 4th Grade" took the internet by storm. His debut novel, Simon B. Rhymin', inspires young listeners everywhere to use their voice to create change within their communities.

©2021 Dwayne Reed (P)2021 Little, Brown Young Readers

Critic Reviews

"I love Simon. I love his heart, his rhythm and rhyme. We've been needing his voice for a long, long time."(Liesl Shurtliff, New York Times best-selling author of Rump)

"An authentic voice, strong friendships and loads of laughs make rhymin’ Simon a winner." (Tom Watson, author of Stick Dog)

"Dwayne Reed has succeeded in writing a story about a boy who is enjoying his life, exploring this theme without overtly coming across as teaching a lesson to readers." (School Library Connection) 

Essential Elementary Novel

This was an incredible book to engage my 4th grade class, and inspire and reawaken a love for reading during a usually tough part of the school year. My students saw themselves reflected in the characters, their families, the things they cared about and ways they spoke and related to each other and the world around them. Using the audiobook instead of myself as the read-aloud reader allowed me to present the author’s authentic voice to make the novel more relatable to my students, and including those great tracks and beats to illuminate Simon’s inner rhymes made them come alive! My students were hooked and many begged their parents to go buy their own copies even after just the first couple chapters.

Absolutely our fave!

Dwayne Reed has written a beautiful book with a storyline we all need. My 8 year old daughter wasn’t quite ready to read the book herself, but listening to the audio book brought so much joy. This audio made it COME ALIVE! The raps, the conversations, just the whole thing … wonderfully done.

B Rhymin'!

This is an AMAZING story!! It is current, creative, innovative, and contemplative!! As an adult and educator it captured my attention and kept me engaged. I'm CERTAIN elementary and middle school students will love this book as well!!! B rhymin' Dwayne Reed!!