One Chicken ­Nugget

K-Gr 2–Inspired by the Indian folktale “One Grain of Rice” or “The Legend of Sissa ibn Dahir,” this version focuses on Frank, a monster with an insatiable craving for chicken nuggets, and Celeste, the Black owner of a chicken nugget stand. Every day, Frank comes to Celeste’s stand, demanding large quantities of chicken nuggets and scaring away her customers. Celeste quickly grows tired of Frank’s lack of manners and decides to concoct a plan to get rid of him for good. She organizes a chicken nugget-eating contest, with the number of chicken nuggets doubling each day for one month. If Frank wins, she promises to cook him free chicken nuggets for the rest of his life. If he loses, he must leave and never come back. Frank is sure he is up to the challenge, but as the number of chicken nuggets begins to grow to outrageous numbers, he starts to struggle. Finally, after over three hundred million nuggets, Frank throws in the towel. He has eaten enough nuggets to last a lifetime. This story provides a funny, lighthearted explanation of exponential growth that is easy to understand for even the most reluctant mathematicians. Bentley’s exuberant and colorful illustrations bring the story to life. End notes provide a concise explanation of exponential growth as well as the history of the original folktale.