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Millions, Billions, & Trillions: Understanding Big Numbers
The winning nonfiction team returns with a larger-than-life math book that is sure to fascinate young readers. Huge numbers are hard to comprehend. This book explains quantities in terms children can understand. For example, one million dollars could buy two full pizzas a day for more than sixty-eight years.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
About the author
David A. Adler
413 books210 followersDavid Abraham Adler is an American children's author. He was born in New York City, New York in 1947. He graduated from Queens College in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics and education. For the next nine years, he worked as a mathematics teacher for the New York City Board of Education, while taking classes towards a master's degree in marketing, a degree he was awarded by New York University in 1971. In that same year, a question from his then-three-year-old nephew inspired Adler to write his first story, A Little at a Time, subsequently published by Random House in 1976. Adler's next project, a series of math books, drew on his experience as a math teacher. In 1977, he created his most famous character, Cam Jansen, originally featured in Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds, which was published that year.
Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career.
Adler's son, Michael S. Adler, is now the co-author of several books with his father, including A Picture Book of Sam Adams, A Picture Book of John Hancock, and A Picture Book of James and Dolly Madison. Another son, Edward, was the inspiration for Adler's Andy Russell series, with the events described in the series loosely based on adventures the Adler family had with Edward's enthusiasm and his pets.
As of November 2008, Adler has three sons and two grandsons. He lives in Woodmere, New York.
(source: Wikipedia)
Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career.
Adler's son, Michael S. Adler, is now the co-author of several books with his father, including A Picture Book of Sam Adams, A Picture Book of John Hancock, and A Picture Book of James and Dolly Madison. Another son, Edward, was the inspiration for Adler's Andy Russell series, with the events described in the series loosely based on adventures the Adler family had with Edward's enthusiasm and his pets.
As of November 2008, Adler has three sons and two grandsons. He lives in Woodmere, New York.
(source: Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
June 18, 2013
With examples that make huge numbers easier for youngsters to understand, this text highlights hard-to-imagine numbers such as a million, a billion, and a trillion. The illustrations show exactly how many zeros are needed for the numbers as well as visual representations of them. Readers can think about trying to count to a million, which would take more than eleven days or consider how many pizzas a million dollars could buy--enough to pay for two pizzas every day for at least 68 years. (Although I like this example, it's also kind of confusing since the text refers to the cost of pizza slices so how many slices are in one pizza?)Curious readers will be fascinated to note that it is physically impossible to count to a trillion during one lifetime. I also like the author's recognition that these big numbers matter, given that our government spends trillions of dollars each year. A good text, but teachers may need to be ready with some additional explanations.
June 7, 2013
I love it that this book exists! It focuses on putting one million, one billion, and one trillion in terms children can understand.
For example:
There are about one million granules of sugar in 1/4 cup.
The heads on ten thousand people together have about one billion hairs.
With a billion dollars, at five dollars a sundae, you could buy one thousand sundaes every day for more than five hundred years.
One trillion popped kernels of popcorn would fill two billion bags of popcorn -- enough for about six bags for every person living in the United States.
And, yes, it mentions the national debt, and includes notes at the end about larger numbers, and different names for these numbers in other countries.
For example:
There are about one million granules of sugar in 1/4 cup.
The heads on ten thousand people together have about one billion hairs.
With a billion dollars, at five dollars a sundae, you could buy one thousand sundaes every day for more than five hundred years.
One trillion popped kernels of popcorn would fill two billion bags of popcorn -- enough for about six bags for every person living in the United States.
And, yes, it mentions the national debt, and includes notes at the end about larger numbers, and different names for these numbers in other countries.
November 27, 2013
Very good book and one to add to our collection for math concepts. This book will certainly help kids visualize and understand the numbers of million, billion, and trillion and what it means.
Reminds me of David Schwartz books How Much is a Million? and On Beyond a Million, an amazing math Journey.
Recommended.
Read this one to my grandson, 2nd grader, and he loved it.
Reminds me of David Schwartz books How Much is a Million? and On Beyond a Million, an amazing math Journey.
Recommended.
Read this one to my grandson, 2nd grader, and he loved it.
May 23, 2013
Clever and mindblowing, this book makes it easier to grasp those big numbers that are commonly used but not-so-commonly understood. It's easier to concieve of how big a million is after you learn that there are about a million grains of sugar in a 1/4 cup....a billion is more impressive when you hear it would take more than 32 years to count that high...and a trillion? Just read the book and be wowed by how vast a trillion is. An author's note tackles numbers even beyond a trillion. Surprisingly fun and engaging for all ages.
reviewer 6 May 23 2013
reviewer 6 May 23 2013
January 10, 2014
Summary: Large numbers!
Why I Read This: I meant to order "Trillions: Thriving in the Emerging Information Economy", but I ordered this instead.
Review: It wasn't bad. I learned all kinds of fun things. Did you know that you can't count to a trillion?
Why I Read This: I meant to order "Trillions: Thriving in the Emerging Information Economy", but I ordered this instead.
Review: It wasn't bad. I learned all kinds of fun things. Did you know that you can't count to a trillion?
April 15, 2019
1. N/A
2. 2nd grade-4th grade
3. This book introduces the concepts of bigger numbers to children. Putting these big numbers into simpler terms, Alder takes notions such as a billion and parallels it to how many grains of sugar is in 1/4th cup. Another example would be when he uses the notion of 1 million dollars and says that this amount of money could buy 2 full pizzas everyday for the next 68 years.
4. I think this book could be beneficial when learning about big numbers for children because they often do not quite understand the concept of how much that would actually be. There are plenty times where kids are using these terms but aren't aware of the numeric value because it is not in terms that they can grasp; this book addresses that.
5. Children could participate in a "greater than, less than" activity where manipulatives/ other objects (such as bags of sprinkles) or a concept (such as how much money it would take to buy 3 ice creams a day for the next 50 years) are placed in front of them and they are responsible for deciding which one could be a million, a billion and a trillion. The previous activity would cater to a more advanced grade level but there are other math related activities and ways to structure to differentiate to lower grades as well.
2. 2nd grade-4th grade
3. This book introduces the concepts of bigger numbers to children. Putting these big numbers into simpler terms, Alder takes notions such as a billion and parallels it to how many grains of sugar is in 1/4th cup. Another example would be when he uses the notion of 1 million dollars and says that this amount of money could buy 2 full pizzas everyday for the next 68 years.
4. I think this book could be beneficial when learning about big numbers for children because they often do not quite understand the concept of how much that would actually be. There are plenty times where kids are using these terms but aren't aware of the numeric value because it is not in terms that they can grasp; this book addresses that.
5. Children could participate in a "greater than, less than" activity where manipulatives/ other objects (such as bags of sprinkles) or a concept (such as how much money it would take to buy 3 ice creams a day for the next 50 years) are placed in front of them and they are responsible for deciding which one could be a million, a billion and a trillion. The previous activity would cater to a more advanced grade level but there are other math related activities and ways to structure to differentiate to lower grades as well.
October 12, 2018
Summary:
This book explains what a million looks like and a billion and also a trillion. All of these are big numbers and this book explains what it looks like. They use different examples throughout the book to provide the knowledge of what it looks like.
Like or not:
I liked this book. I think this is a fun book and it can show children in a fun way what math is and what it looks like to have such big numbers
Classroom:
I would love to have posters from this book in my classroom! This would also be a book I would love to read during my math class and talk about all the big numbers and what the really look like.
This book explains what a million looks like and a billion and also a trillion. All of these are big numbers and this book explains what it looks like. They use different examples throughout the book to provide the knowledge of what it looks like.
Like or not:
I liked this book. I think this is a fun book and it can show children in a fun way what math is and what it looks like to have such big numbers
Classroom:
I would love to have posters from this book in my classroom! This would also be a book I would love to read during my math class and talk about all the big numbers and what the really look like.
September 25, 2024
I like the concept but found the execution somewhat lacking. (I would have liked more visuals and object lessons.)
It started out well: measure out a quarter cup of sugar and you've got about a million crystals. From there, the concepts became less visual and the focus shifted to money. I'm not sure how much my kids really absorbed, to be honest, although I thought it was amusingly cheeky when the book pointed out that America is trillions of dollars in debt and there's only 5 trillion dollars/coins circulating in the world.
For billions, the book talks about buying ice cream sundaes. My kids don't know who Taylor Swift is (she's not mentioned in the book) but other parents might consider tying her into the lesson to pique the interest of their older kids. I don't know- I guess I was trying to think of ways to stretch the info and make it more applicable, but ultimately it fell flat for us.
I'll hold onto the sugar crystal idea, though.
It started out well: measure out a quarter cup of sugar and you've got about a million crystals. From there, the concepts became less visual and the focus shifted to money. I'm not sure how much my kids really absorbed, to be honest, although I thought it was amusingly cheeky when the book pointed out that America is trillions of dollars in debt and there's only 5 trillion dollars/coins circulating in the world.
For billions, the book talks about buying ice cream sundaes. My kids don't know who Taylor Swift is (she's not mentioned in the book) but other parents might consider tying her into the lesson to pique the interest of their older kids. I don't know- I guess I was trying to think of ways to stretch the info and make it more applicable, but ultimately it fell flat for us.
I'll hold onto the sugar crystal idea, though.
April 24, 2020
Millions, Billions and Trillions is an educational math book for young kids. It uses pictures, and life examples to make learning about math and big numbers a little more fun. I despised math growing up, and if books like this one were around then, it would be a lot more engaging. This book also uses out of the ordinary examples to make kids laugh as well as keep them engaged and wanting to learn more about numbers.
April 26, 2018
This book breaks down a big number for kids in ways they understand. They connect it to things they would understand like how much money buying 2 pizzas every day for 68 years would cost. This was a fun book with great illustrations. I give it a 4 because it's a great book to teach with kids in ways they'd love.
April 27, 2018
This book is about teaching children big numbers. The author use children's terms and fun examples to help teach this children the importance of knowing your big numbers. It's humorous and engaging for any age. I think this book is a great way to get these ideas and concepts across and for that reason. I gave this book a 4 star rating.
September 13, 2018
I loved this book. Not only will it help children to understand the concept of large numbers, but it also was fascinating to me to read the different examples of what the numbers would represent in terms of eating two pizzas a day for so many years, how much money a billionaire could give away, etc.
November 20, 2022
11/5/2022 ~ Part of Adler's series of math-based picture books. There is no clear story for this book, but there are clear and concrete examples of how big large numbers really are. This might not work as a read-aloud from beginning to end, but separate spreads could easily be read aloud at different times.
June 20, 2017
Great resource to understand BIG numbers with real life applications such as population numbers and comparisons to fun facts to keep kids interested and getting them thinking about and understanding the impact of such large numbers.
February 12, 2018
Enjoyed the representation of numbers through illustrations so the kiddos can comprehend easily. The examples are relatable, yet will require children to think critically. Overall a fun read for a classroom to involve everyone, and learn at the same time.
April 20, 2018
This book explains big numbers in a way that kids can truly understand. It answers questions like "How many ice cream Sundays would one billion dollars buy?". I would read this in any elementary classroom because I think the kids would be fascinated. This book is fabulous!!
December 10, 2020
Great book to think about big numbers. Even as an adult I liked the way they described and compared million, billion, trillion. Mind-blowing. The kids and I had a great time thinking about the descriptions.
January 22, 2021
Large numbers are hard to comprehend, but the examples and illustrations put a hard to grasp concept in terms that a child might be able to visualize. I feel like I gained a better understanding of just how big these numbers are by reading the book.
January 4, 2022
Lovely and colourful and very well explained. Within an American context this would be great. The quart of sugar to illustrate one million is a super idea, just a shame the examples are not more universal after that.
June 4, 2022
Fun book looking at big numbers. Best part was the discussions we had as a family about it. My 10 year old wondered if sextillion (one billion trillion) was a derivative of the Latin number sex. That made me happy.
November 18, 2025
Books for kids make so many complicated things much simpler to understand (read books on physics for kids...move over Steven Hawking!). This is a fun and super helpful book. Who knew that a billion trillion is a sextillion? I do now! Look out trivia players! Highly recommended.
June 29, 2017
A math book for young readers. This book helps children with huge numbers that are hard to comprehend.
July 12, 2017
Used this book more than once in my class. I enjoyed it and so did the kids.
August 31, 2017
Does a good job covering the concept of large numbers. Very similar to "How Much is a Million" by David Schwartz - which I would probably choose over this one if I was going to pick just one.
November 10, 2017
Very easy to understand concept on millions, billions, and trillions. A must-have.
November 15, 2018
I liked it because it showed all about trillions billions millions and and how long it takes to count that high
April 24, 2019
Great visuals of large numbers. Inquiry questions first weeks of math workshop
May 2, 2019
This book is about teaching children big numbers. The author uses children terms and fun examples to help teach children the importance of knowing big numbers.
January 23, 2020
One of the best, fun math books we have read ;o) And excellent educational read on how these numbers impact our life.
April 19, 2020
Awesome math book! This book is great for students to learn math from listening to a read aloud. This book helps students understand really big numbers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews