Seven Golden Rings: A Tale of Music and Math

I recently posted reviews of picture books by Laurie Wallmark that are biographies of remarkable women in math and STEM fields (HERE, HERE). These deeply researched and well-told biographies reminded me that math is a thread throughout all of our lives. For some, as with these women, math and problem solving become central drivers on a daily basis. For others, math undergirds the  ways in which we live out our seemingly "un-math-y" days. 

Shen's Books, 2020

SEVEN GOLDEN RINGS; A TALE OF MUSIC  AND MATH is written bu Rajani Larocca and illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan.    

What a wonder this lovely picture book is. I read it in search of recent releases that engaged "content" area topics through a multi-cultural lens. In fact, this is a must-have for math classrooms across many ages, but it also offers rich layers of emotional growth and problem-solving. A young person in quest of a dream is a wonderful way to launch any story, but the nature of his relationship with his mother, and her insightful advice early in the story create a hidden gem that shines through at the end.

The math puzzle is seamlessly woven throughout the story, unfolding in ways that invite readers/audiences to absorb the patterns and participate in Rajah's daily solutions. The author's skill in storytelling provides a very gratifying conclusion that wraps in the "math" with delightfully realistic but magical satisfaction.

Though the annual Multicultural Children's Book Day is over, or perhaps because it is ALWAYS the right day to explore and enjoy books that reveal other-than-Western cultures and traditions, I urge everyone to check out this rich picture book. I use the word RICH intentionally, as Rajah's mother might have. She recognized early that her clever son should pursue his dream. She supported his dream by parting with the chain of only seven golden rings, all that remained of her dowry. To that and her encouragement, she added her wise advice.

The author's colorful and well-paced storytelling combine with the illustrator's vibrant and detailed images to transport readers into a time and place that feel comfortably inviting but also exciting and distinct from the their own. Traditional tales are published less often than when I was a child, and then they were exclusively Euro-Western-centric. I hope that the rising availability of stories like these and publishers who make them available will continue and increase. I urge families and educators to include this book in collections, and share often. 

Many picture books address math problem solving through storytelling. A large majority of these have animal characters and/or specific objects (cookies, doughnuts, pizza slices) that can be replicated to clarify specific algorithms for computation processes. here is definite value in that approach.

Few story-math books depict analytic thinking that involves anticipation of needs, shifting number combinations, or maximizing potential resources. 

Think about that sentence.

As older adults bemoan the "fading" skills of young learners in rote memorization or computation skills, we need to appreciate that HOW to think through what needs to be done is a far more important skill. Some picture books support essential understandings of process and calculation in ways that are entertaining and fun. Some, like SEVEN GOLDEN RINGS, use storytelling and character connections to enhance and develop higher level analytic skills.

In this case, the satisfying conclusion also celebrates listening to a mother's advice, speaking up to support others, and using our talents to contribute to the greater society. 

Throughout it all, the richness of cultural identity, traditional storytelling, and the importance of pursuing our dreams as developed in this picture book set examples for writers to develop depth and layers in their own work.