|
One Grain Of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale | 
 enlarge | Author: Demi
Creator: Demi
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $9.45
You Save: $10.50 (53%)
New (33) Used (22) Collectible (4) from $7.25
Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 38156
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 40
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 10.3 x 10.1 x 0.6
ISBN: 059093998X
Dewey Decimal Number: 398.2095402
EAN: 9780590939980
ASIN: 059093998X
Publication Date: April 1, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Exotic, beautiful, and instructive, this "mathematical folktale" by author-illustrator Demi emerged from her love of India. The narrative and the evocative illustrations combine to create a real sense of the culture and atmosphere of this romantic land. It's the story of Rani, a clever girl who outsmarts a very selfish raja and saves her village. When offered a reward for a good deed, she asks only for one grain of rice, doubled each day for 30 days. Remember your math? That's lots of rice: enough to feed a village for a good long time--and to teach a greedy raja a lesson.
Product Description
A reward of one grain of rice doubles day by day into millions of grains of rice when a selfish raja is outwitted by a clever village girl.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
ANOTHER WONDERFUL OFFERING FROM DEMI September 13, 2008
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
This wonderful Indian folk tale is brought to life by some wonderful illustrations and art work. Demi is one of the better illustrators, and indeed, writers of children's books active today. I do not know of one book by this author that is not a complete delight to the eye and ear.
This is a story of a "Wise Raja" and how he is tricked by a little girl. This ruler made the decision one day that he must gather all the rice in the land and store it away for future use. He left the poor people of the land in a state of starvation while he feasted at his palace from his over filled store houses. One day some grains of rice fall from the basket being carried to the Raja's home and a little girl gathers them up, but instead of keeping the rice, she returns it to the wise ruler. As a reward, he offers her anything she wants. She asks for one grain of rice. The Raja more or less insists she ask for more, so she tells him she would like one grain of rice, but would like to have it doubled every day for thirty days. The first day, one grain, the second two, the third four, and the fifth eight...and so on until the last day. You do the math. Needless to say at the end of the thirty days, the little girl has all the rice and the Raja has none.
This is an interesting story and an excellent lesson in math, in greed, in giving and in compassion, all wrapped up in one small book. The illustrations consists of full page pictures done in the style of India and is sprinkled with traditional miniature paintings as well. The detail and vivid colors are a feast for the eye.
This book seems to fascinate children. I have noted that they pull it form the shelf and set and read and look at the pictures over and over again. As an adult, I know I see something different each time I read the thing to a class. The children are absolutely amazed when it finally dawns on them what the little girl has done and it makes quite an impact when they realize the power of numbers. This is a great read-a-long book as you can give a mini math lesson and a moral lesson at the same time. I never tire reading it. To be honest, the pictures are worth the price of the book alone.
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
 Great book! May 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My daughters are 7 and 8 and they love this book. It was a great story and something to keep in our home for a long time.
Reading in high school math May 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I teach high school algebra and found that the addition of children's literature enhances my curriculum. I used this book when we began exponential functions. I read the first part to my students and then had them fill in a chart telling how many grains of rice she received each day for 30 days and ultimately come up with a formula. The book itself is beautiful and even high schoolers enjoyed it. (After the math activity, they asked me to finish the book. :)
Great book for all ages, really! December 29, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have purchased 5 copies of this book - one for my kids and the rest as gifts. I've also suggested it to others to give children as gifts. My older son is 2 1/2 years old and he enjoys this book. Certainly, I can expect an older child, around 5 or older, to get more of the mathematical detials from the book, but my son likes it too.
Instead of reading the numbers aloud, I show him that Rani shared the single grain of rice with this bird, 2 grains with that peacock.. the bagful of rice with the tiger... etc. He loves it. The illustrations are outstanding!! I always feel like I'm reading a book from the "royal" archives when I pick this up.
Enjoy!
A lot to learn, including girl-power April 19, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is Demi's re-telling of an old folktale of a king who orders that all rice in his kingdom must be stored in the royal granaries so that there would be food in times of famine; but when his people start to go hungry, he refuses to open the granaries, claiming that the situation was not bad enough to warrant doing so - until a small child outsmarts him by asking for a grain of rice doubled every day for a month.
I love this book because there is a lot to be learned from it. Of course, there is the math: the concept of doubling and how quickly doubling makes the numbers grow. There is the art: lovely Indian-inspired illustrations with stunning gold effects. There are also moral lessons, namely that power can corrupt, and that even a small child can teach a mighty king.
Then, there is a special lesson for all little girls everywhere - that girls can do math. After all, the math-smart hero of the story is a little girl herself.
|
|
|
This amazon.com affiliate Store Owned and Operated by Silkroad Retail Group
Accepted Payment Methods:
American Express, Diners Club, Discover, JCB, MasterCard, Eurocard, Visa, Visa Check Cards, Amazon.com gift certificates, payment directly from your bank account, and checks, money orders, or cashier's checks denominated in U.S. dollars and drawn on a U.S. bank, Borders Gift Cards and Waldenbooks Gift Cards as payment for qualifying orders. More information about Shipping & Handling, Delivery Date, Return Policy, Special Offers/Savings etc is available at the time of Secure CheckOut.
© 2006 ChindiaLounge.com All Rights Reserved | Powered by Silkroad Web
| |
