On Beyond a Million: An Amazing Math Journey [Paperback]

David M. Schwartz (Author), Paul Meisel (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 13, 2001 | Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

Professor X and his dog, Y, teach kids how to count exponentially by powers of 10 (1, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, etc.), beginning at 1 and working all the way up to a googol (a 1 followed by 100 zeros) and beyond. Children fascinated by large numbers will be amazed how quickly they can count to really BIG numbers, and they’ll also find answers to questions like “What comes after a trillion?” or “What’s the biggest number in the world?” Real-life examples provide plenty of fun facts, such as how much popcorn Americans eat in one year, or how many hairs are on a square inch of a person’s head. Along with the fun comes some powerful learning, as this unique counting book helps kids understand our number system, which is based on multiples of 10.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This "math journey" progresses exponentially as kids try to keep up with the yield of an out-of-control popcorn machine. Professor X teaches them to count by powers of 10, demonstrating up to a googol (10100) and beyond, as the kids provide a running commentary. While they don't seem much closer to knowing how many kernels of popcorn they have, they do learn a lot of big numbers and entertain each other with such nonsense names as "splendillion" and "elephantillion." Schwartz (Magic of a Million Activity Book) originally used bags of popcorn to demonstrate powers of 10 in school presentations. However, here the hands-on technique of counting the kernels is never explained; the value of the popcorn example is less clear in book form. Sidebars rattle off numerical trivia, adding zeros on every spread (e.g., "One little brown bat can snap up 600 mosquitoes per hour"; "There are 40,000 different characters in Chinese"). These ever-larger numbers inspire Meisel's (The Fixits) lively cartoon illustrations of 105 bees and five billion (or 5 x 109) people in the world. While readers' minds will be reeling with zeroes, they will be buoyed by Schwartz's and Meisel's infinite enthusiasm for their subject. Ages 6-10. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-Schwartz helps youngsters conceptualize enormous numbers by introducing them to counting by powers of ten. Professor X, along with his dog Y, comes to the rescue of some children with an out-of-control popcorn popper as they futilely attempt to count the kernels. The Professor begins to "power count," rapidly reaching large numbers through the addition of zeros. The scenes change as the Professor counts from 1 to 10 to 100 to 1,000 , from a camp out in the woods, to the seashore, rain forest, north pole . All the while, the children echo his explanations of the counting process. Each double-page spread is illustrated with watercolors in lively cartoon fashion with lots of detail. Sidebars include one section where Y shows how exponents can be manipulated, and another section entitled "Did You Know?" The factoids presented show the prevalence of things in large number: "Every day 37,000,000 (thirty-seven million) Tootsie Rolls come rolling out of the factory." Yet, they bear no relationship to power counting, and may even serve as a distraction. And while the children do reach large numbers counting this way, they never actually count the popcorn. Also, exponents are generally not introduced until fifth or sixth grade, where this picture book will have less appeal. However, for the most part it works as an introduction to the subject, and fans of Schwartz's How Much Is a Million (1985) and If You Made a Million (1989, both Lothrop) will probably enjoy it.
Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dragonfly Books (November 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440411777
• ISBN-13: 978-0440411772
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 0.2 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #692,022 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Teacher review, August 16, 2001

By 

Wendy (Hillsdale, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On Beyond a Million: An Amazing Math Journey (Hardcover)

This book is definately for older children. I teach 5th grade and it is to much for them. The facts that are included are very interesting and my kids love those. For my fifth graders i only use the creative facts throughout the book to help my students realize how big a million, billion,...and so in is. I felt the story was hard to follow. It is all in bubble - like a cartoon which was confusing to follow and not easy to read. For older students i think this book would be great. It does teach how easy it is to count using the power of 10's.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars worth reading, February 8, 2002

By 

Paula Burch - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On Beyond a Million: An Amazing Math Journey (Hardcover)

My nine-year-old enjoyed having me read this book to him, though it was not nearly as compelling as some other math books we've read for fun, such as Math Trek or The Number Devil. I liked his getting a better picture of the real meanings of big numbers, since he'd had a lamentable tendency to use the words for large numbers, such as "million", "billion", and "trillion", interchangeably. My five-year-old enjoyed the pictures, though he really did not get the concepts.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for all ages, May 24, 2010

By 

Eileen S. Duncan "eileensd" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: On Beyond a Million: An Amazing Math Journey (Paperback)

On Beyond a Million is fantastic. I shared it with my third grade class as part of a lesson about big numbers (and a pre-pre-introduction to the basis of scientific notation, although I didn't take it that far with the kids). The book calls counting by powers of ten "power counting" and that was quite adequate for 9 year olds! The book is well written, full of fun illustrations, and presents the concept of big numbers and "power counting" in a way that third graders found highly engaging. I have to admit, however, the book also enabled me a greater understanding of what really big numbers are all about... and there's not a google of anything, by the way :) On Beyond a Million also includes a number of interesting # facts (e.g. how much rain forest is destroyed every minute, number of mosquitoes a little brown bat eats, and how many hairs on a square inch of a human head) that get bigger as larger powers of ten are introduced page by page. After reading this book to/with the class I showed them Ray and Charles Eames' "Powers of Ten." The book gave meaning to large numbers and what adding a power of ten does and was a perfect intro for the film. I've also taught 5th and 6th grade and am confident the book would interest just about any audience. I loved it!