Can You Count to a Googol? (Robert E. Wells Science Series) - Hardcover

Wells, Robert E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807510602 ISBN 13: 9780807510605

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company, 2000

Synopsis

You may be able to count all the way to one hundred, but have you ever counted to a googol? It's impossible! In this fun book of numbers, Robert E. Wells explores the wonderful world of zeros and tells how the googol came to be named.

About this title

About the Authors

Robert E. Wells (Robert Ernest Wells) was born in Pasadena, CA in 1940. In the 90s, he began to put words and pictures into the form of children's books, and now in the new century he continues to do so. In 1993 he wrote and illustrated his first book, "Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There is?". Other books include "What's Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew?" (Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children, 1996), "What's Faster Than a Speeding Cheetah?", and his latest book, "Why Do Elephants Need the Sun?". Many of his books have been translated into various other languages.

Robert E. Wells (Robert Ernest Wells) was born in Pasadena, CA in 1940. In the 90s, he began to put words and pictures into the form of children's books, and now in the new century he continues to do so. In 1993 he wrote and illustrated his first book, "Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There is?". Other books include "What's Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew?" (Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children, 1996), "What's Faster Than a Speeding Cheetah?", and his latest book, "Why Do Elephants Need the Sun?". Many of his books have been translated into various other languages.

Reviews

Grade 2-4-The author illustrates how our number system builds by powers of 10 and helps develop a concept of what those numbers mean. The initial illustrations are silly: a girl balances one banana on her nose; a monkey balances 10 bananas using limbs and tail; 100 eagles pull a basket of children through the sky. A more realistic sequence illustrates millions to billions. A large wooden crate is loaded with 1,000,000 dollar bills; 10 of these crates are loaded onto a flatbed trailer (10 x $1,000,000 or $10,000,000); 10 of the trailers are loaded onto a barge ($100,000,000); and a harbor is filled with 10 barges ($1,000,000,000). The author explains that a googol, the number with 100 zeros, is too big to illustrate. "If you counted every grain of sand on all the worlds' beaches, and every drop of water in all the oceans, that wouldn't even be CLOSE to a GOOGOL." Children are reminded that numbers go on forever by a rocket speeding off into space, accompanied by a trail of zeros. The switch from fanciful to factual in these examples is somewhat jarring, but the pen-and-acrylic cartoons do adequately illustrate the growing numbers. Though David M. Schwartz's How Much Is a Million? (Lothrop, 1985), with its consistent playful tone and imaginative number illustrations, is still a preferable choice, Wells's model of building numbers could be a useful addition.
Adele Greenlee, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Parents and teachers seeking ways to combine reading with math for young children will welcome this helpful book. Wells (Whats Faster Than a Speeding Cheetah?, 1997, etc.) works on the basic math concept of adding zeros to make larger and larger numbers, an idea that often fascinates children. The text begins with the number one and adds zeros, illustrating each new number with lively artwork. As the book and the numbers progress, the text and illustrations help by tying numbers to concepts already understood, such as ice cream cones and money. Although younger children may have difficulty reading some of the longer words, the illustrations and the author's appeal to children's active imaginations make this book great for read-alouds and for encouraging kids to enjoy math. By the way, a googol really is a named number, as the author explains on the last page. (Nonfiction. 5-8) -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

This counting book begins with 1 and moves up: 10, 100, 10,000, 100,000, and so on, building to the concept of a googol, the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros. Some math teachers will object to the notion of adding zeros after a number, which Wells sometimes does, instead of multiplying by 10 or 1,000. Still, the simple, colorful ink-and-acrylic illustrations of 1,000 scoops of ice cream, 100,000 marshmallows, and 1,000,000 dollars will help children visualize big numbers represented by familiar objects. Like Wells' previous books, such as What's Smaller than a Pygmy Shrew? (1995), this picture book encourages young children to stretch their minds a bit. The last page offers a short history of the googol, including its naming by a 9-year-old boy. Good supplementary material for the math curriculum. Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807510602
• ISBN 13: 9780807510605
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Wells Robert E.
• Number of pages: 32