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6th out of 42 books
—
25 voters
One Grain Of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale
by
Demi
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.
Hardcover, 40 pages
Published
April 1st 1997
by Scholastic Press
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Oct 08, 2009
Lisa Vegan
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
all kids, especially those who think they don’t like math/numbers
I really love stories for children that address that magic of numbers/mathematics. It’s one of many reasons why I so enjoy The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. That book conveys the joy of both numbers and words.
This is a story with a moral and is about fairness and cleverness, but it’s the way numbers work (watching grains of rice grow from one to over one billion in only 30 days) with simple multiplication that makes this story so much fun.
The story of a girl who tricks a leader into doing...more
This is a story with a moral and is about fairness and cleverness, but it’s the way numbers work (watching grains of rice grow from one to over one billion in only 30 days) with simple multiplication that makes this story so much fun.
The story of a girl who tricks a leader into doing...more
4 likes · like · see review
view all 16 comments
Jun 08, 2012
Darshana Khiani (Flowering Minds)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
perfect-picture-book-friday,
reviewed
This is a multi-layered story that teaches math, introduces Indian culture, and has a great moral story. I especially loved that the village girl outsmarted the raja using her intelligence, and distributed the rice not only to the villagers but to the nearby animals as well. The story can also be used to discuss social responsibility by discussing the raja’s role during the famine.
The first half of the story introduces the raja and his relationship with the villagers. The reader watches the demi...more
The first half of the story introduces the raja and his relationship with the villagers. The reader watches the demi...more
Dec 10, 2011
Tiana
added it
Where’s the Math: Common Core Standards 2.MD.10 Draw a picture graph and a bar graph (with single-unit scale) to represent a data set with up to four categories. Solve simple put together, take-apart, and compare problems using information presented in a bar grap
Genre: picture book- story
Theme/Keywords: operations, predictions, data collection
Features of print: Type of illustrations: Very beautiful artwork Text density and Features of print: the text seems to be a little long but not too bad. T...more
Genre: picture book- story
Theme/Keywords: operations, predictions, data collection
Features of print: Type of illustrations: Very beautiful artwork Text density and Features of print: the text seems to be a little long but not too bad. T...more
The only other story I've read by Demi was her ancient Chinese folktale entitled, "The Empty Pot," which also includes a moral/lesson and is based in an ancient civilization. I hadn't realized this was a style of Demi's until discovering "One Grain Of Rice," which incorporates similar cultural and moral elements. In fact, "The Empty Pot" seemed so authentic to Chinese culture I had assumed Demi must be of Chinese descent in order to write and illustrate with such genuine detail. However, after r...more
I have read many books by world-renowned children’s book author, Demi, but I have not gotten around to reviewing any of Demi’s books yet. “One Grain of Rice” is the first book by Demi that I am reviewing and it is a folktale from India that is about a young woman named Rani who tries to trick the raja of India into giving her more rice than is needed during a famine. “One Grain of Rice” is truly a worthy folktale that will be loads of fun for children!
When Demi stated in the title of this book t...more
When Demi stated in the title of this book t...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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A Raja decides that his men must collect most of the rice from the farmers in his province to store in case of famine. But when the famine hits, the Raja refuses to share the rice. Rani, a village girl, collects rice that is falling from the Raja's elephant and returns it to he Raja and is rewarded by a wish. Rani asks that she be given one grain of rice, and that her reward is doubled every day for thirty days. One, grain, two, four, sixteen, etc., up to millions of grains of rice, carried by h...more
This story is not only an Indian Folktale, but a phenomenal way to illustrate math concepts to children. In the story, Raja hoards all the rice in the middle of a famine. This starves all of the people in the province. Later on, a young girl does the Raja a favor, and in return she asks for thirty days of rice. One day one, she starts with one grain of rice, and each day after the amount doubles. This book creates a fun story line to teach children multiplication. In the beginning the grains of...more
One Grain of Rice by Demi is a classic folktale. Even greater it teaches a great mathematical principle. The way the story is written is eloquent, but the illustrations were not my favorite. The illustrations lacked detail, but at the same time it gave the story a folktale feel. The illustrations enhanced the text. It gave a little more detail than the text was giving. This book has very thick white borders, which distances the reader from the story. In this case, since the book is a folktale, i...more
This folktale demonstrates the concept of doubling (multiplying by 2). A girl requests 30 days worth of rice (beginning at one, doubling the quantity each day) from a royal raja during a famine. I would read the book to my students and pause to discuss how much they think the one grain of rice will amount to at the end of the 30 days. After practicing estimation, I would finish the story. I think the students would be extremely surprise to see that the rice amounts to over 1 billion grains of ri...more
This is a great story about a peasant who helps the rajah and is awarded one wish. The wish is to fill a chessboard with one grain of rice on the first day, and doubling the grains of rice until the end of the board. So the first square would have one grain and the second square would have two and then four and then sixteen and so on. The moral of the story was that there wouldn't be enough room to fit all the rice that this would give the peasant.
This is a great idea and a story that will stic...more
“One Grain of Rice” is a clever story about a young Indian child who outsmarts the Raja of their nation.
The moral of this story is to only take what you need because being selfish will never allow a person to live a peaceful life. This book is a great lesson book for children. It has colorful pictures that help the reader to understand the quantity of rice the young girl is receiving each day from the Raja. It also helps the student to learn a little bit of math at the end. The last page of the...more
The moral of this story is to only take what you need because being selfish will never allow a person to live a peaceful life. This book is a great lesson book for children. It has colorful pictures that help the reader to understand the quantity of rice the young girl is receiving each day from the Raja. It also helps the student to learn a little bit of math at the end. The last page of the...more
A Raja collected most of the people's grain, promising that he would store it in case of famine. When the famine came he decided to keep the grain for himself. A village girl returned to him some spilled rice, and asked for, as her reward, only one grain of rice. But- each day after that for 30 days he would give her double the last day's rice. It was amazing to see how quickly it added up.
It was a lovely story with beautiful illustrations. I loved the deep colors and gold, and the details like...more
It was a lovely story with beautiful illustrations. I loved the deep colors and gold, and the details like...more
This book could be used in the classroom to teach two separate important lessons. For elementary students, it can show them the importance of not being greedy and only taking what you need. For older students it could be used in math class, because the story shows the squaring of numbers. In the author’s note there is a chart showing how the single grain of salt, doubled each day for thirty days, will reach 536,870,912 grains of rice on the last day. The story itself had high literary value incl...more
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: enou...more
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: enou...more
This was a very clever and fun book. The math kept my mind thinking and I was very surprised how significantly the number rose just by doubling it. This was a very fun and witty book to read.
Teaching Application:
I would love to make this book a part of a math lesson. With the length of these numbers you can make this lesson extend further up then elementary school. I would have the students compose a spreadsheet half way through the book to predict the out come. I would then have them finish t...more
Teaching Application:
I would love to make this book a part of a math lesson. With the length of these numbers you can make this lesson extend further up then elementary school. I would have the students compose a spreadsheet half way through the book to predict the out come. I would then have them finish t...more
I really liked this folktale. I enjoyed how the moral of the story was not only to benefit from teaching a lesson of sharing but also from equality. This folktale shows how start a young woman can be when using math to solve the issue of famine. This is folktale centered around mathematics which is a very unique lense to look through. I definitely want a copy of this book for my students because it is an easy way to understand a concept of math as well as connect to the good deeds of sharing and...more
This is included in the anthology we use in fourth grade. It is one of my favorites that we read.
The raja, supposedly well-meaning, hoards the rice in case of famine. Famine arrives and he will not release the rice as he is fearful there will not be enough rice to sustain things. A raja should always have rice.
A young girl schemes a plan. She outwits the raja and ends up with all the rice by asking merely for a single grain of rice when the raja rewards her good deed. Calling for her to increase...more
The raja, supposedly well-meaning, hoards the rice in case of famine. Famine arrives and he will not release the rice as he is fearful there will not be enough rice to sustain things. A raja should always have rice.
A young girl schemes a plan. She outwits the raja and ends up with all the rice by asking merely for a single grain of rice when the raja rewards her good deed. Calling for her to increase...more
One of my all time favorite authors of Children's books. All of her books are well constructed, beautifully illustrated and have an excellent message. You cannot go wrong!
Noah is discovering all that math and numbers can do. He was blown away by the concept that by doubling a single grain of rice everyday for a month you can end up with a number that is beyond comprehension. It is pretty cool to see those ideas take root in his head and actually see the thoughts and ideas dawn on him.
Noah is discovering all that math and numbers can do. He was blown away by the concept that by doubling a single grain of rice everyday for a month you can end up with a number that is beyond comprehension. It is pretty cool to see those ideas take root in his head and actually see the thoughts and ideas dawn on him.
One Grain of Rice is a folktale about a young village girl who teaches the selfish ruler a lesson about gluttony. Every picture is bordered against a white background as if you are looking in through a window. Some pictures come out of the borders, which is a fun touch. One thing I did notice was that every illustration is small, but when you look closely each drawing is incredibly detailed, fully portraying the Indian culture and art. Not my favorite picture book, but definitely a fun read.
The illustrations! Oh, my goodness. The illustrations are TO. DIE. FOR. I want to buy two copies of all her books so I can decorate the walls with the pages from one of each book. I especially like that this story has a strong female character. And how amazing is this selection of folktales from around the world? SO happy I discovered this children's-book writer.
And I felt that the beginning of this story could be the start of a parable about the current global financial crisis.
And I felt that the beginning of this story could be the start of a parable about the current global financial crisis.
This story was truly great. It was a story that I had once heard before but in a different way. My father once asked me if I would rather have a hundred dollars every day for a month or if I wanted one dollar a day but double it each day for one month. So while reading this story it reminded me of that. One Grain of Rice will be a great book for use in math. I would use this book from a first grade classroom all the way up to a fifth grade classroom. With a first grade classroom I would use it t...more
May 26, 2011
Mhm Storytelling
added it
This book is a really great way to connect math and reading and also to help children understand the process of doubling. This is an Indian folktale that I read to my students during a lesson on the art of India; it has beautiful illustrations. I had my students interact with this book by asking them to predict how much they thought the grains of rice would come to once doubled on the next page-this gets really fun once the numbers get very high!
Abby
Abby
This story may be about adding numbers but it is also about doing the right thing. This book was about a young girl that had turned in two grains of salt and received multiple grains of rice. She was able to get rice given to her by animals like lions and tigers. This book is also helpful because it comes from the Indian culture so students are introduced to terms like raja. I would recomend this book to higher levels of learning.
Apr 21, 2012
Kasmarine
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
rice,
indian-folklore,
math-doubling,
greed,
poverty,
animals,
compare-and-contrast,
consequences,
counting,
cause-and-effect,
describing-words,
evaluating,
giving-sharing,
promises,
perseverance,
prediction,
problem-solving,
sequence,
social-studies,
virtue-courage,
virtue-helping-sharing,
virtue-honesty,
indian-art-customs,
indian-custom,
esol
who would win the battle of wit? The wise and fair Raja or the poor and honest village girl. One grain of rice is the masterpiece of Indian wit, custom and cast system woven in one tapestry. Would the wise and fair Raja open his heart to the cry of the poor? Our readers will enjoy the wisdom and power of one grain of rice on people life. The ocean began with one droplet of water, so one grain of rice will feed the whole nation.
In this story, a girl asks for one grain of rice. Then the following day for that grain to be doubled. And the following day for that to be doubled again, and so on and so forth. By the thirtieth day it is a huge number of grains of rice. This book would be good to show how numbers grow exponentially. I think the students would really enjoy this book and really get excited to see how much rice the girl gets.
This beautifully illustrated tale is a favorite when I share the book with late elementary/early middlers because of the mathematical problem at the center of the story. Before reading the conclusion, I always stop and ask what they believe the answers are and why - then we can have a fruitful discussion about food justice, enoughness, and why knowing your maths can pay off in situations you might not have imagined!
This book could be used in the classroom to teach two important lessons. For elementary students this book teaches the importance of not being greedy and to always only taking what you need. For 5th- 8th grade students I would use this book in math class. The story shows the squaring of numbers. On the last couple of pages there is a chart showing how the single grain of rice doubled each day for thirty days. It will reach 536,870,912 grains of rice on the last day.
Demi is one of our new favorite authors of children's books. The empty pot is probably our favorite, but this one is great as well. This book teaches that you shouldn't be greedy, that numbers do amazing things (one grain of rice doubled for 30 days ends up feeding the village several storehouses of rice and saves them from starvation), that being clever can save you and many others, etc.
We liked this book which shows how quickly one grain of rice grows into many when doubled everyday for one month. I think I would have liked the story better if the Raja had kept his promise... my kids thought he was pretty foolish and selfish.
I liked the back page which shows the daily numbers since I was getting ready to take out a paper and show my kids (they give it 5 stars).
I liked the back page which shows the daily numbers since I was getting ready to take out a paper and show my kids (they give it 5 stars).
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| MCC Children's Li...: Concept Book | 1 | 2 | Apr 08, 2012 08:57pm |
Born as Charlotte Dumaresq Hunt, September 2, 1942, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, married John Rawlins Hitz (a teacher and writer), December 18, 1965 (marriage ended); married Tze Si (Jesse) Huang; children: (first marriage) John.
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