Multiply, Divide & Conquer the World like Shakuntala Devi! [Review]

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Title: The Girl Who Played with Numbers – Shakuntala Devi (Dreamer Series)
Author & Illustrator: Lavanya Karthik
Publication: Duckbill – An imprint of Penguin Random House
Type: Paperback
Length: 48 pages
Age: 6-9 years and all young-at-heart souls

Ananya has not been very excited about Mathematics at school this year and has been giving me a tough time at home to complete her homework. She is quite an outdoorsy kid and hence it was not a surprise when she enjoyed reading life experiences of Bachendri Pal and PT Usha from the same series. So, when her Asha aunty reached out to review this lovely biography, I was excited but also unsure how she would take to this book. I must say, she surprised me and has read this biography multiple times, while taking it along with her to school to show her math teacher about her newfound interest.

The Girl Who Played with Numbers – Shakuntala Devi (Dreamers) is a delightful and an inspiring book for children that explores the remarkable life of Shakuntala Devi, one of India’s greatest mathematicians, often referred to as the “Human Computer.”

Shakuntala Devi was not like most people. She was special, but she wasn’t afraid to show how much she loved mathematics. She was not scared of numbers; she thought of numbers as her friends and hence loved playing with them. The book paints a vivid picture of Shakuntala Devi’s journey from a young girl with a passion for numbers to an internationally recognized prodigy. It also touches upon her emotional side including her loneliness and how again numbers comforted her from her self-doubts.

“Without mathematics, there’s nothing you can do. Everything around you is mathematics. Everything around you is numbers.” – Shakuntala Devi

Here is Ananya review verbatim

I really liked the book! It’s about a lady named Shakuntala Devi who was really, really good at math. She could do huge math problems in her head super-fast, faster than a computer! She didn’t need a calculator or a pen to solve them. She was just AMAZING!

The pictures in the book are really fun and colorful. They make the story look exciting and help me understand everything better. When I saw Shakuntala Devi doing her math, I thought it was so cool because it looked like she was having fun with numbers, like it was a game.

Did you know she multiplied a 13-digit number into another 13-digit number in just 28 seconds and won her place in the Guinness Book of World Records?

This book is good for kids like me who are curious about math and also a bit scared, but even if you don’t like math that much, you can still enjoy the story!

The illustrations are lively and inspired by the Mysore school of painting. The writing is simple and age appropriate – an apt story to inspire one and all!

You can find the rest of the books from the Dreamers series here. There is a new boxset of 10!
Dreamers: Delightfully Illustrated Short Biographies | Boxset of 10 inspirational Indian men and women who changed the world | Perfect for 7+ years

We have other reviews of books in the Dreamer Series which might interest you:
The Girl Who Loved to Run – P.T. Usha
The Boy Who Made Magic – P.C. Sorcar
The Girl Who Was A Forest – Janaki Ammal
The Boys Who Created Malgudi – R. K. Narayan and R. K. Laxman
The Girl Who Loved To Sing – Teejan Bai 
The Boy Who Loved Birds – Salim Ali
The Boy Who Built a Secret Garden: Nek Chand . Inside pages have been shared here in our fb group.

If you are looking for a fun book that also makes your child/ your inner child want to dream big, just like Shakuntala Devi did; then you might want to order the book from Amazon (kbc affiliate link),

CLICK & BUY NOW!

Disclaimer: Pooja and Ananya are a part of the #kbcReviewerSquad and received these books as review copies from the publisher via kbc.