Warlord's Beads

Introduce your little reader to numbers with this tale of a boy in ancient China crafting an abacus to help his father count a warlord''s treasure.Young Chuan lives with his father in the beautiful palace of a powerful Chinese warlord. As a reward for his cleverness in solving the warlord''s puzzle, Father is given the job of tallying the warlord''s treasure—brilliant jewels, rich brocades, and spices from a thousand lands. Life at the palace is luxurious but filled with so many interruptions Father often loses count! The varying totals lead the suspicious warlord to accuse him of stealing, and Father is about to lose hope. Just in time, Chuan discovers a special use for the warlord''s lovely jade beads—a use that will help Father keep an accurate tally and cause the warlord to pronounce Chuan as clever as his Father. Often used by teachers of the primary grades to illustrate the powerful concept of "base ten," various types of counting frames appeared in China during the Middle Ages.