In this post, we feature author Rajani LaRocca, whose previous titles include the novel Midsummer’s Mayhem. You can hear her speak about the inspiration for her new picture book, Seven Golden Rings: A Tale of Music and Math, and try her fun “invitation to imagine” activity. You’ll also find other resources to explore. Thanks for joining us, and let us know what you think in the comments below!
Seven Golden Rings: A Tale of Music and Math
- Written byRajani LaRocca and illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan
- Published by Lee & Low Books
- Release date: October 27, 2020
In ancient India, a boy named Bhagat travels to the Rajah’s city, hoping to ensure his family’s prosperity by winning a place at the Rajah’s court as a singer. Bhagat carries his family’s entire fortune—a single coin and a chain of seven golden rings—to pay for his lodging. But when the innkeeper demands one ring per night, and every link snipped costs one coin, how can Bhagat both break the chain and avoid overpaying? His inventive solution points the way to an unexpected triumph, and offers readers a clever, enjoyable introduction to binary numbers—the root of all computing.
Explore Seven Golden Rings: A Tale of Music and Math
Listen to Rajani LaRocca talking with TeachingBooks about creating Seven Golden Rings: A Tale of Music and Math. You can click the player below or experience the recording on TeachingBooks, where you can read along as you listen, and also translate the text to another language.
- Listen to author Rajani LaRocca talk about her name.
- Explore TeachingBooks’ collection of activities and resources for Seven Golden Rings: A Tale of Music and Math.
Invitation to Imagine
TeachingBooks asks each author or illustrator on our Virtual Book Tour to share a writing prompt, a drawing exercise, or just an interesting question to spark curiosity and creativity. Enjoy the following activity contributed by Rajani LaRocca.
Imagination Activity with Rajani LaRocca
Action! In order to get deeper into a character, to understand what they want and need, I often think about verbs that go with that character. For example, a character who is a dancer might glide, spin, twirl, twist, or whirl as she goes about her day, while one who is a musician might tap, count, sing, hum, or sway, and one who is a baker might whip, inhale, taste, roll, or mix. Think of a character from a story that you’re writing or reading and come up with a list of five verbs or actions that the character might do. Can you draw your character doing these things?
Finish This Sentence . . . with Rajani LaRocca
As part of our Virtual Book Tour, TeachingBooks asks authors and illustrators to complete short sentence prompts. Enjoy Rajani LaRocca’s response.
“My protagonist can’t live without . . .”
My protagonist can’t live without music! Bhagat loves music more than anything. In fact, he keeps himself company during his long journey in Seven Golden Rings by listening to a rhythm in his head. I love to listen to my favorite tunes (often songs from when I was a kid!) while I’m in the car or while I’m cooking, and I find that music keeps me company, too.
“A surprising thing that helps me write is . . .”
A surprising thing that helps me write is moving! Some of my best ideas come after I exercise or walk my dog, Boomer (see the photo below), or even after I exercise and get in the shower! There’s something about moving and thinking about something else that makes creative ideas flow.
Thank you!
To wrap up this Virtual Book Tour, we thank Rajani LaRocca for signing a book for all of us.
More Connections to Rajani LaRocca and Seven Golden Rings: A Tale of Music and Math
- Discover books like Seven Golden Rings: A Tale of Music and Math on TeachingBooks.
- Lee & Low’s page about Seven Golden Rings: A Tale of Music and Math, written by Rajani LaRocca and illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan.
- Buy Seven Golden Rings: A Tale of Music and Math, written by Rajani LaRocca and illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan.
- Rajani LaRocca on Twitter.
Explore all of the titles featured in the TeachingBooks Virtual Book Tour: one link with author interviews, lesson plans, activities, and more!
All text and images are courtesy of Rajani LaRocca, Archana Sreenivasan, and Lee & Low Books and may not be used without expressed written consent.
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