How to Weigh an Elephant?
by Geeta Dharmarajan and illustrated by Wen Hsu
“How to Weigh an Elephant?” by Geeta Dharmarajan and illustrated by Wen Hsu. Published by Katha. A tough challenge which is solved by a little mathematical genius Lilavati.
The King had a pet Elephant which was chubby and happy. He wanted to find out it’s weight. So he declared that a grand prize would be given to whoever found out the weight of the elephant. Everyone in the kingdom got busy trying to find the weight of the elephant but to no avail. Till a scientist declared that his little daughter Lilavati should be able to calculate the weight.
What does Lilavati do? How does she calculate the weight of the elephant? Join her to find out. Apt for children aged 5+. Kids who have been introduced to basic arithmetic will appreciate the methods of Lilavati better. The last couple of pages in the book have facts about women scientists and a fun experiment for the children.
Also the name Leelavati in the story is significant as she has been named after Lilavati who was a brilliant scientist and mathematician from ancient India. She was the daughter of Bhaskaracharya and lived nearly a thousand years ago. Between her and the three men scientists, her father Bhaskaracharya, Aryabhatta and Brahmagupta, they covered everything we know today about arithmetic. All these facts are listed in the book. My seven year old has been reading this book since a year and liked it especially the last part about the women scientists. Thank you Vidya Mani of Funky Rainbow for recommending this lovely book. I ended up buying it from a Funky Rainbow buzzaar after having it on my wish list for quite some time!
Where to buy from?
The publishers Katha here.
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.
