Picture Book A kid is learning Chinese calligraphy and tries to write one million brush strokes

[Caroline]

I am looking for a book about a boy who is learning Chinese calligraphy in his village. He goes to school and on the first day he learns 1 which is one line. The second day, he learns 2 which is 2 lines. The third day, he learns 3, which is three lines. He's like "This is easy, I don't need school" and somehow he ends up trying to write one million as one million brush strokes. This takes a long long long time, and eventually he goes back to the teacher and learns that there are easier ways to write the other numbers, and he does need school after all.

I read this as a kid, probably in the late 90s, in the US. I believe it was included in the magazine "American Girl" but usually they included stories from real books so I'm hoping it was a real book.

[Kate]

Caroline --
You can bump your thread every month or so to keep it near the head of the folder instead of languishing on page25. More people will see it, ask questions, make suggestions, and eventually solve your book. Good luck!

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Caroline, are you still looking for this or did you find it?