David M. Schwartz

How Much Is a Million? is a colourful picture book that seeks to make large numbers (million, billion, and trillion) more understandable to children. I first encountered this book as a child (I was the kind of hopelessly nerdy kid who was naturally good at and interested in math, so this book was perfect for me) and I still enjoy looking through it today. The author and illustrator use simple examples (how tall is a tower of kids standing on each other's shoulders, how big of a bowl is show more needed for goldfish, etc.) to demonstrate the size of the numbers. The illustrations are quirky and detailed and fun to look at (I especially love that the kids have a pet unicorn!). The author even includes a note at the end explaining the actual numbers and calculations in the book (possibly older children could enjoy reproducing these calculations or coming up with examples of their own). This is definitely a book I would recommend. show less

I think this book is a fantastic book! I truly believe it would grab many reader's attention, as it grabbed my attention as a young adult. It puts large numbers like a million and a billion into perspective. I enjoyed learning that counting to a million years would take about 23 days and counting to a billion would take about 95 years. I did not think about, until we discussed it in class, how David Schwartz, the author, came up with these measurements. I think that it is crucial to have the show more last page which explains how he did all his calculations. Although I did not think about it, I'm sure one of my students would ask, "How did he know that?" The only thing I did not particularly like was the ending. I turned the last page without even knowing it and was slightly surprised. Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I know my students/children would as well. show less

This book really made me feel sad for Supergrandpa at the first time. A 66 years old man, who really wants to take part in the Swedish Bycicle Race, is not allowed because they judge him as too old. So he starts riding his bike without the admission of the State and travels the whole way of about 1000 miles on his bike. It doesn't take a long time until he becomes famous all over Sweden. The people admired him and he becomes the winner of the hearts.
I really love this story as it represents show more the never ending generation gap problem. Old people are still put on the edge when younger ones could master the ambition too. show less

"On Beyond A Million" reminds me of the Magic School bus series for math teachers. It covers the journey of a popcorn machine that goes crazy and keeps popping popcorn over and over again. He uses this as an opportunity to teach kids on estimation, powers of 10, and scientific notation. Why not make a lesson out of it? The book is a great blend of story telling with facts. It breaks off and has mini-lessons throughout the pages for clarification and math enrichment. The professor is show more illustrated in a way that makes him look like Einstein. I think this is not a coincidence. The book is written in dialogue between Professor X and his students. It is like a large comic strip which makes itself appealing. I would definitely use this book in my classroom. I could use it to introduce exponents and powers of 10. I could also use it as book that I could have on my bookshelf that I know would provide a great read for my students that will both be entertaining and educational. This book would be a great hook and I am thankful for finding it! show less