Editor Reviews:

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.

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.

Rating : - ANOTHER WONDERFUL OFFERING FROM DEMI
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