Hip & Hop In The House!, 4 fly 4YO and up

The tortoise raps slow. The hare raps quickly. There is no racing involved. They do walk briskly for a moment, but that’s only after the two anthropomorphic animals meet each other and see a poster for a rap battle.  Hop lives in Breakbeat Meadow and Hip lives in Slowjamz Swamp, both of which are in Oldskool County. If you’re tongue isn’t fully in cheek yet there are more than two dozen cute puns that seal the deal in this book  hits home for elementary school readers; or for those parents of young readers who want to have fun reading it to them.

Some of those parents, especially those with jovial hip hop bent to them will especially enjoy the book. Let’s be clear, this is bright colored, anthropomorphic fun for ages three and up. Those kids in second grade will be able read the majority Hip & Hop In The House! by themselves. You don’t have to know anything about hip hop or any other musical field to enjoy the book. However, if you know music and even have a base knowledge about hip hop you’ll be in on some of the better jokes in the book.

For example, Hop’s house is near Sugar Hills. We’ll leave the rest of the puns hidden as finding them is part of the fun. Think of it as an all age Where’s Waldo word game hunt where a couple consonants to things or people’s names are switched out. This kind of sounds like a game show they’d play on NPR. Urban radio should take this idea and bust a move, if the kids still say that.

This is a kid’s first graphic novel that’s comprised of two stories and a short mini-comic. The first story is about said rap battle that happens in the forest. The second story is about a surly porcupine named Paul who doesn’t like anything. Eventually, towards the end of that story Hip and Hop manage to make him happy, so much so that he does everything in the affirmative.

This is cute stuff. The ideal range for Hip & Hop is first through fourth grade, although many readers who are older will also enjoy it. The vibrant colors that Jef Czekaj has in Hip, Hop and the various supporting characters make this a loose, happy book that anyone can really enjoy.

From the mouth of our 9 year old: It’s about a tortoise and a hair that like to rap. They both see tickets to a rapping battle and the next night they rap. It’s funny.