I love, love, love the book for today! I have read it to my kids several times, and had the pleasure of reading it to a group of young students at a school. I have not come across any child that is not fascinated with this wonderful book.
There are a few different variations of this story, but my favorite is this one:
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!
Kids love trying to start this mathematical calculation on their own, but when Day 9 arrives, with a total of 256 grains of rice, they quickly decide against calculating and counting.
During a trip to the library yesterday, Bobadob and I noticed this version:
This story is slightly different. A village girl outsmarts a selfish king by asking him to double a
portion of rice every day for 30 days in order to feed the hungry.
Adorable, adorable stories! Fabulous conversation starters for your elementary students.
Just five minutes
Dawn
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