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A GRAIN OF RICE
​Author: Helena Clare Pittman 
​Illustrator: n/a

Number of pages: 80
Publisher: Yearling Books (USA)
First published in: 1996
Format: Picturebook

Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes
Is this story part of a mathematics story series? No

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Synopsis by the author/publisher
When a humble farmer named Pong Lo asks for the hand of the Emperor's beautiful daughter, the Emperor is enraged. Who ever heard of a peasant marrying a princess? But Pong Lo is wiser than the Emperor knows. And when he concocts a potion that saves the Princess's life, the Emperor gladly offers him any reward he chooses--except the Princess. Pong Lo makes a surprising request. He asks for a single grain of rice, doubled every day for one hundred days. The baffled Emperor obliges--only to discover that if you're as clever as Pong Lo, you can turn a single grain of rice into all the wealth and happiness in the world!

“"Five-hundred-twenty-four-thousand-two-hundred-and-eighty-eight grains of rice!" exclaimed the Emperor on the twentieth day. "Tomorrow it will be more than a million!" His anxious fingers pulled at his moustache and he summoned the Imperial Mathematician.”

Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Coming soon!
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Recommended age range: 
10 years old + 

Relevant mathematics topics: 
Powers & Exponential Growth

​Possible teaching activities:
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