Imagine a child who never says anything in the classroom.
MC Grammar did. He called him Z, for zero, and made him the hero of his first novel.
Z never speaks at school because every time he talks, it rhymes. Every. Single. Time.
And when Z got wind of the Royal Rap Rumble heading to his town, with the help of his super-cool English teacher Mr G, his best friend SFX, and a hip-hop makeover, Rap Kid was born.
The Adventures of Rap Kid, which anyone who has read Diary of a Wimpy Kid might recognise, celebrates the power of words and friendship that transformed Z’s life, and that of his author, primary teacher turned educational rapper Jacob Mitchell, who is also known as MC Grammar.
He took to the stage in the island to perform an interactive show for hundreds of Year 5 pupils as part of the Guernsey Literary Festival’s Education Programme. And every one of the 650 of them got to take a copy of the book home.
‘It was really fun – it made me want to read more,’ said 10-year-old Vale Primary student Sofia Ogier.
Her classmate, Jessie Martin, echoed her enthusiasm.
‘It was amazing,’ she said. ‘I loved the dance part.’
The event featured MC Grammar rapping several children’s books to his audience, engaging their teachers in a nursery rhyme rap battle, and inviting the students to dance in irresistible scenes.
The object of his performance is to make learning more fun, accessible and engaging.
‘I’m very passionate about education because I actually failed in our education system,’ said Mr Mitchell.
‘I left school, and it was only then that I discovered how I learned very differently through music and rhyme and pattern. I then went back into the system, using my own ways of learning, and I did very well.’
Wanting to share his alternative approach to education with more children, Mr Mitchell became a primary educator – a role which let him continue to develop his educational rapping talents with little ditties he would make up for his pupils.
‘I used to make up little raps and rhymes, and it just kept getting bigger and bigger, until people wanted a show,’ he said.
‘My headteacher let me do a show at another school, and then I eventually ended up going part-time, and now I’ve been doing this full-time for six years.’
Mr Mitchell now does frequent live performances, even earning himself the Guinness World Record for the largest-ever rap lesson earlier this year, as well as continuing to create rap content on social media, where he first found fame.
Now, a couple of his best-performing YouTube videos are sitting at more than 2 million views, including one uploaded only about a fortnight ago.
One of his best known works is his ‘World Book Day Song’ – a song of particular importance to him, given his time serving as a World Book Day ambassador.
‘If a kid reads a page or a couple of words tonight because of me, I see that as a significant impact, because I know that that word might be the word they need to express themselves,’ he said.
‘It’s also about supporting the teachers and the parents as well, because it’s hard. I’ve got four kids coming home with homework, and having these these tools and resources to support them is great as well.’
His performance was also live-streamed in order to be accessible to students in the other islands of the Bailiwick.
It formed part of the Literary Festival’s Education Programme – a programme which this year features 15 different events taking place in local schools, all sponsored by Rothschild.
‘Our education programme really, for us, is all about children discovering a love of books in a fun and engaging way,’ said the Festival’s director, Claire Allen.
‘It’s about sparking children’s interest in reading. There’s nothing quite like getting to actually meet a children’s writer. The children always have a lot of amazing questions for them, and I think there’s something very special about that.’
‘I think in total we’ve got 3,500 children that will get an opportunity to meet a writer as part of this year’s Guernsey Literary Festival.’
As 2026 is being celebrated nationwide as the National Year of Reading, the Literary Festival is also aimed at supporting the stated theme of the year – ‘Go All In’, which is meant to encourage people to read on topics they already harbour a passion for.
‘Just keep reading and keep rapping,’ said Mr Mitchell.