Warlords Beads

Young Chuan lives with his father in the beautiful palace of a powerfulChinese warlord. As a reward for his cleverness in solving the warlordi1/2spuzzle, Father is given the job of tallying the warlordi1/2streasure--brilliant jewels, rich brocades, and spices from a thousandlands. Life at the palace is luxurious but filled with so manyinterruptions Father often loses count The varying totals lead thesuspicious warlord to accuse him of stealing, and Father is about to losehope. Just in time, Chuan discovers a special use for the warlordi1/2slovely jade beads--a use that will help Father keep an accurate tally, andcause the warlord to pronounce Chuan as clever as his Father.Often used by teachers of the primary grades to illustrate the powerfulconcept of base ten, various types of counting frames appearedin China during the Middle Ages. The Warlordi1/2s Beads is avaluable tool for introducing young readers to the wonder of numbers aswell as the beauty and mystery of ancient China.