A Grain of Rice by Helena Clare Pittman

This is a fun folktale about the value of hard work and cleverness.  A poor farmer sets out to win the hand of the Princess, but first he must first win the confidence of the emperor. 

Using a clever math problem, Pong Lo convinces the emperor of China to award him the hand of his daughter.  It's fun to see how a grain of rice, doubled each day (2 grains, 4 grains, 8 grains, etc.) for 100 days becomes a HUGE amount.  Young readers will enjoy learning about the culture of ancient China in the context of a fun math problem.

This book is recommended in Illuminations and Sonlight Curriculum.