One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale

Long ago in India, there lived a raja who believed that he was wise and fair. But every year he kept nearly all of the people's rice for himself. Then when famine came, the raja refused to share the rice, and the people went hungry. Then a village girl named Rani devises a clever plan. She does a good deed for the raja, and in return the raja lets her choose her reward. Rani asks for just one grain of rice, doubled every day for thirty days. Through the surprising power of doubling, one grain of rice grows into more than one billion grains of rice - and Rani teaches the raja a lesson about what it truly means to be wise and fair.Demi's exquisitely detailed art, inspired by traditional Indian miniature paintings, combine with her simple retelling to convey the heart and wisdom of this satisfying mathematical tale.

Author: Demi
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Published: 04/01/1997
Pages: 40
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 10.00h x 9.90w x 0.40d
ISBN: 9780590939980
Audience: Ages 4-8

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.6
Point Value: 0.5
Interest Level: Lower Grade
Quiz #/Name: 19539 / One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale


Award: Red Clover Award - Nominee
Award: Black-Eyed Susan Award - Nominee


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 01/27/1997 pg. 106
Kirkus Review - Children 01/15/1997 pg. 140
Booklist 04/01/1997 pg. 1341
School Library Journal 03/01/1997 pg. 172
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/1997 pg. 332 - Recommended, Satisfactory
Booklist Ed Choice Youth 01/01/1998 pg. 734
SLJ's Best Books 12/01/1997 pg. 24
Booklist 03/01/1997 pg. 1166
School Library Journal 12/01/1997
School Library Journal 03/01/1997

About the Author

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1942, Charlotte Dumaresq Hunt was called "Demi" by her father, a nickname that stuck. Her family was deeply involved in the arts: her father was an architect and actor, her mother was a noted painter, her great-grandfather was the American painter William Morris Hunt, and her great-great-uncle was the architect Richard Morris Hunt. With her mother's encouragement, Demi studied studio art, silk-screening, jewelry-making, mural painting, and ceramics from an early age. She went on to study art at the Rhode Island School of Design, Los Angeles' Immaculate Heart College, and the University of Baroda in India's Gujarat State.

Demi's travels have taken her to many different countries, including Guatemala, Brazil, England, and Japan. She has painted murals in Mexico, and closer to home painted the dome of St. Peter & Paul Church in Wilmington, California. But it was her interest in Eastern art styles and in Buddhism that led her to China, which would provide the inspiration and setting for her first children's book, Lu Pan, the Carpenter's Apprentice, published in 1978. Since then, she has created more than 130 books for children, many of which are adaptations of Chinese folktales. Her work is wide-ranging, however, and also includes concept and puzzle books, picture-book biographies, fables, and novelty board books.

Demi lives in Washington State with her husband, Tze Si (Jesse) Huang. They have one son.

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1942, Charlotte Dumaresq Hunt was called "Demi" by her father, a nickname that stuck. Her family was deeply involved in the arts: her father was an architect and actor, her mother was a noted painter, her great-grandfather was the American painter William Morris Hunt, and her great-great-uncle was the architect Richard Morris Hunt. With her mother's encouragement, Demi studied studio art, silk-screening, jewelry-making, mural painting, and ceramics from an early age. She went on to study art at the Rhode Island School of Design, Los Angeles' Immaculate Heart College, and the University of Baroda in India's Gujarat State.

Demi's travels have taken her to many different countries, including Guatemala, Brazil, England, and Japan. She has painted murals in Mexico, and closer to home painted the dome of St. Peter & Paul Church in Wilmington, California. But it was her interest in Eastern art styles and in Buddhism that led her to China, which would provide the inspiration and setting for her first children's book, Lu Pan, the Carpenter's Apprentice, published in 1978. Since then, she has created more than 130 books for children, many of which are adaptations of Chinese folktales. Her work is wide-ranging, however, and also includes concept and puzzle books, picture-book biographies, fables, and novelty board books.

Demi lives in Washington State with her husband, Tze Si (Jesse) Huang. They have one son.