If You Made a Million

This is a really great book to get the reader to understand the concept of money, banking, interest, and what a million looks like.The illustrator does a great job with illustrating the pictures throughout the book. I like how the reader can visually see the concept of how a ten dollar bill is worth the same as two five dollar bills or ten one dollar bills. I really like how the book also talks about banking and the concept of earning interest and writing checks. Hopefully, the reader will pick up a little information to help them understand some of these concepts. I would recommend this book for grades 3-6.

"If You Made a Million" teaches kids all about money. The book starts off small, with a penny, a nickel, a dime, etc. It eventually builds to 1 million dollars, and each amount of money is explained with smaller value coins or one-dollar bills (example: 100 dollars is 100 one-dollar bills, or ten thousand pennies). The weight and height of the stacks of dollar bills and pennies is shown as well. The purposes of banks are also explained, as well as interest and loans. The reader is told that for larger sums of money, checks should be used; it is then explained how checks work, and how the bank actually gets the money to the person with the check. When the children in the book earn one million dollars, they are shown many different things show more they could buy with it, but are also told that if they put it in the bank, the amount of interest earned would have them set for life. But it's explained that since it's their money, they can choose what to do with it, which is what makes money fun. One thing I really enjoyed from this book is when the children are told that just because a job pays well doesn't mean they should take the job; enjoying your job is more important than the money you make. I honestly really enjoyed this book, but that's most likely because I loved it as a kid and now I'm nostalgic for it. I think the concepts of banks, interest, and loans are explained really well, though the amount of interest that money accumulates now may be different from when this book was published (1989). To be honest, this book did make me a little depressed since money has less value than it did in the 80's. I don't even think you can buy anything with one cent anymore, contrary to what the book describes. Other than the possibility that this book may convince a child that they can buy something for one cent, I think that "If You Made a Million" is a great way to teach children about money. show less

Such a cute book for learning about money math! The children in the book start by earning a penny when they feed the fish. They continue to do odd jobs like blowing up a boa (plastic), mowing the meadow, and transferring trees to gradually earn more and more money. All along the way the wizard/narrator discuses financial topics like interest, loans, checks, and clearing houses. Finally the children complete the million dollar task, babysitting an "obstreperous" ogre toddler. The book doesn't fail to mention that money isn't everything, and if you hate ogre babysitting it's not worth the money. The illustrations are eccentric and cats, random jokes, unicorns, and alliterations are tucked into the illustrations on nearly every page. This show more book is a great way to begin the topic of money with children while reading a whimsical fairytale about a world where unicorns and ogres exist yet the banks work exactly how they do in the real world. It's truly a charming book. show less

Marvelosissimo, the Mathematical Magician, takes readers on a journey through "the fascinating world of money." He explains the differences between denominations, values, and even how actually money measures up when stacked. There are so many possibilties when it comes to money, and especially making a million!

This book can be classified as a picture book since it includes detailed illustrations that convey information to the reader that is equally important to the provided text. As such, I will consider whether the book is visually appealing, accurate, and engaging. Throughout the book, the illustrations are detailed, colorful, and celebratory. The children are accompanied by various pets and wildlife, an abundance of freefalling cash, and a variety of exciting scenarios like fairs and airports.
The information provided in the book is primarily concerned with earning and saving money, however several other mathematics concepts are introduced (including units of measure, checking accounts, and loans). As a result, the author does not explain show more any one concept in great detail. The limited information on any one concept is not inaccurate, but the illustrator includes unicorns and wizards throughout, making it seem as if banking in general is a form of magic. There is also a picture of an airport where the illustrator includes trips to the moon.
In all, the book was clever and beautifully drawn. The story moved quickly and kept my attention. I regretted that the author glossed over many of the dense concepts included. Why include them if not to make a point? There was also a notes portion in the back that included an explanation of income taxes that were never even mentioned in the story. I would not recommend this book to high school students. show less

This was a book about money, how it is earned, how to count it, what it would look like stacked up, and tons of goofy ideas on what to buy with money. I thought this was a funny book that would keep children interested. Even though it has a lot of silly ideas on how to spend money it is still educational and the author was able to disguise the facts so that a child would be learning and not even realize it is a math book.

The Marvelossimo the Mathematical Magician explains how exactly money works to the character, who starts out by earning one penny. Her penny grows and grows until it becomes one million dollars! Along the way, the magician explains the value of different coins and bills, their equivalents, how tall or how heavy that many coins of bills would be, interest, saving, spending, and investing. All of the important financial topics for children to be familiar with are explained in a simple, imaginative way. The book shows the magic of watching your money grow. I read this book as a child in school, and although I did not remember the book well, I remember doing a lesson based on it. This is a classic book that has been used as a tool for show more teaching money to children for many years. show less