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 is 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 is 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!