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.

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.

For a book which is meant for children this was not an easy read. The writing doesn't flow, it feels clunky and it feels like there are unnecessary words and explanations when you don't need them. It really drags the story. It became frustrating and I couldn't finish for this reason.