until the enormous procession of elephants in the end to bring the one billion grains of rice after 30 days! After a fortnight, a goat is pulling a cart that carries a bag of rice and so on. Then come the big cats - a leopard, a tiger, and a lion each carrying a small pouch in their mouths. First, it is just a few birds with grains of rice in their beaks. The increasing volume of rice each day is depicted beautifully by the variety of animals that deliver the grains of rice each day. The Raja realizes his folly and decides to mend his ways.ĭemi's illustrations, inspired by Indian miniature style, are exquisite. By the end of the 30 days, the power of 2 works its magic and the whole village has enough grains of rice, thoughtfully and generously shared by Rani. Of course, not being familiar with exponential growth, the Raja thinks this is an acceptable, affordable, trifling sort of reward and agrees. So, Rani, the clever little mathematician she is, says: I would like one grain of rice, doubled every day for thirty days: one grain of rice on the first day, two grains of rice on the second day, four grains of rice on the third day and so on for 30 days.

The Raja decides to reward Rani for it and says she can ask for anything within reason. One fine day, Rani inadvertently manages to help the Raja. He refuses to share the rice when a famine hits the village. Synopsis: A Raja believes he is wise and fair, but, each year, keeps the harvest rice for himself. The story is about a clever little girl Rani, who makes a deal with the Raja (King) and eventually humbles him. I was looking for conceptual/educational story book for my soon-to-be-8-year-old niece and came across this book by Demi.īased on an Indian folk tale, this book introduces the mathematical concept of exponential growth. This book is clearly not for my 2½ year old. One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folk Tale

One grain of rice folktale