How Much Is a Million?

Based on the 1985 picture book, written by David M. Schwartz and illustrated by Steven Kellogg, How Much Is a Million? features Marvelosissimo the Mathematical Magician demonstrating the numerical concepts of "million," "billion," and "trillion" with great examples that children (and adults, for that matter) can visualize. In fact, prior to watching this video, if my 4-year-old grandson Hunter had asked me, "Grandpa, can we watch Toy Story again, and, by the way, how much is a million?," I would have been hard pressed to come up with an answer (especially since we've only seen Toy Story 946,328 times). Now I do have answers: if a million kids stood on each other shoulders, the human tower would reach up higher than airplanes fly; it would take you 23 days to count to a million; and a whale could fit in a bowl large enough to hold one million goldfish. Heads up to students looking for science project ideas: if you want to count to a trillion, remember to ask your teacher for a time extension--about 200,000 years. While the animation is rather lackluster, the concept of putting big numbers in perspective is both sound and sure to be appreciated by early elementary audiences (and older mathematically challenged adults). Recommended. Aud: K, E, P. (R. Pitman)