Hip Hop Dog

From top dogs Chis Raschka and Vladimir Radunsky comes an uplifting tale of canine self-reliance told in acrobatic, infectious rhyme.

I'm the zoom-est and the boom-est, spread no gloom-est, say no doom-est. I'm the top-est, never stop-est, Boston Pop-est, be be bop-est. I'm the jazz-est, razzmatazz-est, dazzle dazz-est, most pizzazz-est.

Think I kinda like it as the Hip Hop Dog.

In an empowering story of an underdog who finds his voice and sense of self-worth through music, here is one hip dog who starts out as a dejected mutt but finds his groove—and his place in the world—through hip hop.

From top dogs Chis Raschka and Vladimir Radunsky comes an uplifting tale of canine self-reliance told in acrobatic, infectious rhyme.

I'm the zoom-est and the boom-est, spread no gloom-est, say no doom-est. I'm the top-est, never stop-est, Boston Pop-est, be be bop-est. I'm the jazz-est, razzmatazz-est, dazzle dazz-est, most pizzazz-est.

Think I kinda like it as the Hip Hop Dog.

In an empowering story of an underdog who finds his voice and sense of self-worth through music, here is one hip dog who starts out as a dejected mutt but finds his groove—and his place in the world—through hip hop.

Publishers Weekly

Raschka (John Coltrane's Giant Steps) supplies the verbal beats and Radunsky (What Does Peace Feel Like?) sets the gritty scene in this story of a down-and-out dog made good. Like many hip-hop heroes, Hip Hop Dog reports a hardscrabble youth: “I come free, but no one needs me./ ... When I'm hungry, no one feeds me.” Wearing white judo pants and a black ball cap with the brim turned back, the scruffy gray-brown mutt paces among apartment buildings. He strikes a wide, threatening stance as showy dogs circle nervously: “When I spot a Weimaraner,/ Cocker spaniel, and a Shih Tzu,/ Taller, higher, smarter, blonder,/ Makes me bite and I could spit, too.” Yet he thrives on street life, and his improvised barks, growls, and break-dances earn respect. Like visual shouts and whispers, the emphatic sans serif typeface grows, punches, shrinks, and spirals on the pages. Raschka's edgy wordplay shows the dog's aimless anger shifting to a more optimistic focus as he finds his voice, and Radunsky's crude paint scribbles convey the proud dog's defiance. Readers seeking upbeat, noncorny children's hip-hop should sample these rhymes. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)

Chris Raschka, when not creating award-winning children's books such as Another Important Book, Caldecott Honor Book Yo! Yes, and Caldecott Medal Winner The Hello, Goodbye Window, expands his mind with the poetry of Shelley, Bishop, and Biz Markie.