One Grain of Rice

Title: One Grain of Rice

Author/Illustrator: Demi

Medium: Painting

Genre: Folktale

Theme: Selfishness, Multiplication

Summary: This book is a mathematical folktale from India, telling the story of a greedy raja who collected rice from all of the peasants after each harvest, and refused to share even when famine struck. After a good deed, Rani, a peasant, was granted a reward and found a clever way to outsmart the raja.

Literary Elements: This folktale is set in a province in India long ago. The author provides the reader with two main characters. The greedy raja is the antagonist of the story, refusing to provide rice to the starving peasants in his province. The second main character is Rani, the protagonist. She is a peasant who finds a clever way to gain rice from the raja to feed the community, as she requests just one grain the first day, two for the second, multiplying the grains each day for just 30 days. By the end of the story, the reader notices a change in the raja, as he promises to only take the amount of rice he needs, making him a dynamic character. Gold in this folktale is used to represent wealth. In the beginning of the book, the raja is painted on a gold background. He is surrounded with wealth in the first half of the story. As Rani collects more rice, you begin to see gold associated with her. By the end of the book, the peasants are painted on a gold background, as they receive rice from the raja. This signifies their wealth not in the form of money, but instead in happiness for they will no longer go hungry.

Evaluation: This book does an incredible job of incorporating a moral story, culture, and mathematics into a book allowing children to learn on more than one level and leaving room for a variety of discussion. For example, what famine is, what a raja is, where India is located on a map, etc. The illustrations are painting of small human and animal figures with a strong use of red and gold coloring. The illustrations provide the reader with a visual of just how much rice Rani collects. One downside of this folktale, is that it is not written by an India native. Although the author spent some years studying in India, the artwork and cultural aspects would be more authentic if they came from a true Indian perspective.

Social Justice Element: This folktale brings up the issue of social injustice. Raja, shows clear superiority over the peasants, as he required they give him rice yet refused to return it during a time of need. The raja is displayed in a palace of gold, eating bowl after bowl of rice, while the peasants are depicted as starving.

Follow-Up Activity: This book provides teachers a fun way to introduce multiplication to their class. Before reading the book, a poll could be taken to ask the students if they would rather have a few hundred ice cream cones, or one that was doubled each day for one month. After reading the story, the class can create their own chart using a calendar month to display how one grain of rice can become 536,870,912 grains of rice in just 30 days.

By: Brittany Kollmer