I feel in love with Rajani LaRocca and her debut middle grade book, Midsummer's Mayhem. (Y'all know how much I loved it.) So when I heard a picture book was headed for publication, color me intrigued!

Books that tackle math and computing concepts are in high demand these days (as much as this non-math brain hates to admit it.) While the binary was slightly over my head, I appreciate Rajani's explanation and the way she made this tale such fun. The color palate is ALIVE and VIBRANT. I loved the tale of how to make something stretch and get the "most bang for your buck!"

So why three stars? It is merely a preference thing. ( )

This book is about a boy who needed money for his family and found that the Rajah was looking for some help. He went to play an instruments for the Rajah but was not good enough. However, the keeper of the inn he was staying at told the Rajah to keep him as he had found a way to break apart 7 rings into 1 ring, 2 rings, and four rings, so that he never over payed when he needed to pay 1 ring per night. The Raja hired him to keep track of his money and estates. This book is a great way to show adding negatives and positives together as well as can be used for fractions in some ways. It also gets students to think critically about how they could do the same with other scenarios. ( )

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss. ( )

This picture book for children attempts to show children how a non-decimal system works - in this case, the base two or binary system. Rather than strict explication, it uses a story about Bhagat, a boy in an ancient kingdom who aspired to sing for the Rajah in his court. For one week a year, the Rajah lets musicians audition for the royal troupe, so Bhagat traveled to the city and found an inn to await his turn to audition. He needed to figure out how to pay for a room at a local inn until he was called, but only had a chain of seven golden links as collateral, and he didn’t want to overpay.

How Bhagat figured out the best way to manage his resources is the focus of the story, and the basis upon which readers learn about binary calculating.

An Author’s Note provides a more mathematical explanation of the story, and more information about base two versus base ten.

Cartoon-like illustrations by Archana Sreenivasan give an “Arabian Nights” look to the story. ( )

Seven Golden Rings is a delightfully clever picture book about Bhagat, a boy in ancient India, who seeks an audience with the rajah to become part of his musical court. Faced with the conundrum of paying for a week's stay at the inn without overpaying, Bhagat needs to figure out the most efficient way to break up a chain of 7 golden links. With just two breaks, he's able to calculate and pay for each night of the stay, until he can finally prove his worth to the rajah.

The illustrations are colorful, engaging, and graphic and add a liveliness to the story. Back matter is included to explain the binary system upon which Bhagat made his decisions. ( )