A Grain of Rice

A Grain of Rice by Helena Clare Pittman is a part of our Sonlight Curriculum in Core A.

I remember liking this book the first time we read it together, but reading it with my kids today reminded me why I enjoyed it so much! This book is clever, easy to read and understand for young kids, and teaches wonderful life lessons.

Pong Lo wants to marry the princess, but is a peasant and therefore refused by her father, the Emperor of China. The Emperor threatens Pong Lo's life, but the Princess steps in and saves his life. Now he must work to prove his worth. Can Pong Lo become worthy of the princess?

This book teaches working hard but working with joy and a smile on your face even with menial tasks. It teaches that it's worth working hard even with no promise of what you want. I really appreciate it showing the purpose of knowledge and using it to do your best work. It also shows using wisdom and cunning to answer difficult questions and remaining humble. This book teaches so much humility.

I really enjoyed talking about the lessons this book teaches with my kids and showing them how Pong Lo was living out mandates God has given us in Scripture. I absolutely recommend this book as a family read. We were able to read it fairly quickly over lunch but you can space it out if you would like.

I would give this read 4.5 stars.

This book does not really fall into any of my reading challenges very well, so it's a bonus book for me!