The Quest for a Tangram Dragon - Hardcover

by Christine Liu-Perkins (Author), Lynn Scurfield (Illustrator)

Winner of the 2025 Mathical Book Prize for Young Readers Grades K-2

A clever and charming introduction to the Tangram puzzle, a classic Chinese shape puzzle that's beloved in early math curriculum.

A brave Little Triangle seeks a Chinese dragon to end the long drought. On the quest, Little Triangle meets other shapes who want to help. Using the magic of tangrams, the shapes do amazing things together:

Two triangles flip and flap to make a butterfly! With a square, they swap and swivel to make a bat! Four shapes jump and bump to become a bird.

But there's still no sign of the dragon they need.

When they reach a mountain, no matter how much they hop and plop, huddle and muddle, or leap and heap, the shapes can't find a way to the top. How will they ever find the dragon they're searching for?

Author Christine Liu-Perkins and illustrator Lynn Scurfield celebrate tangrams in this clever and warm-hearted story about the power of persistence and teamwork.

The book includes tangram shapes for readers to cut out, so they can play with their very own tangram puzzle!

Author Biography

Christine Liu-Perkins is a writer and researcher who specializes in Chinese history and culture. Her book At Home in Her Tomb: Lady Dai and the Ancient Chinese Treasures of Mawangdui unearths one of China's top archaeological finds of the last century. She has a Ph.D in educational psychology. Born in Boston and raised near Kansas City, Christine now lives in Colorado.
christineliuperkins.com

Lynn Scurfield is a mixed media illustrator based in Toronto, Canada. She is the illustrator of several picture books including Flight: Notes from Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig, Two New Years, and Friends are Friends Forever.
www.lynnscurfield.com