Nonfiction Book Blog - How Much is a Million?

How Much is a Million?

Written by David M. Schwartz and Illustrated by Steven Kellogg

Harper Collins Publishers, 1985

Nonfiction

     Nonfiction books make up a large part of today's literature. These books include real life facts and information about real people, places, and events. In the book "How Much is a Million?", there is wizard who is trying to teach children how big the number a million is. This wizard uses multiple examples to connect real life to number amounts. The author uses picture examples to show that one million things combined can be higher than the mountains. He even gives examples of the quantity of a billion and trillion. This book does a great job of helping students understand numbers through real-life connections. Check this book out to find out how big a million, billion, and trillion are!

     The illustrations in this book were done primarily with watercolors. The pastel pictures bring so much vibrant energy to the book. These illustrations help the reader visualize the concept of a million, billion, and trillion. There are many straight lines and repetitive shapes throughout the book. The pictures take place in a ton of different places like the mountains, city, football stadium, the moon, and even in a different galaxy. Each picture is a new example portraying one of the three numbers. Also, there are illustrations of children in every picture.

     I would read this book to my third grade students for math and reading. I would do a cross-curricula lesson to incorporate both content areas. First, I would allow the students to read the book and then I will focus on the quantity examples for each number. You could use this book with your students to help them understand the concept of a million. This book gives multiple real-life examples that students can connect to their everyday learning. You could do multiple math activities and practice using this book in your classroom. 

If you are interested in "How Much is a Million", go check this book out today for you and your students!