Martin and the Dragon

I have presented this in two different ways.

• The easy way: I turn off the lights except for a small desk lamp (for cave-like atmosphere) and I read the story myself.
• I have three scripts, all with the same reproduction of chapter 8. Each script has the lines for that actor highlighted. One script is for Martin, one for the dragon, and one for the narrator. The story is acted out with the dragon wearing a costume, if possible. Martin has to act very timid and shy. The dragon has to be mean and nasty. This version is much more entertaining.

The first of several stories in chapter 8 is about Martin wanting to know if all of the numbers in a list of numbers are odd. He asks the dragon for the answer. The dragon replies that he will not give Martin the answer to that problem. He will only tell Martin if the first number in the list is odd. He will tell Martin the answer to this question for as many lists as Martin wants to give him... thus resulting in Martin discovering recursion!

Martin visits the dragon several times in chapter 8. The first visit is with the list of numbers where he discovers recursion. The second visit is about factorials and a second look at recursion. Eventually the visits lead to the three rules of recursion:

1. Know when to stop.
2. Decide how to take one step.
3. Break the journey down into that step plus a smaller journey.

A later visit shows how infinite recursion may result if one of these rules is not satisfied.

This is a great introduction to recursive methods!