How Big is a Million?

My first grader asks a LOT of questions.  One of his most popular questions is, "How many people are on this Earth?  A thousand?"  I try to explain to him that it is A LOT of people, about 7 billion, but this is just way to abstract for my son to understand.  Since a billion is hard for me to picture, we have started small.  This book by Anna Milbourne is a fantastic book to help your child picture a big number like a million.

How Big is a Million? is an adorable book about a penguin named Pipkin.  Pipkin spends his day searching for a million things.  He finds 10 fish, 100 penguins, 1000 snowflakes, but never finds a million of anything.  When Pipkin goes home disappointed with his search for a million, his mother takes him outside and shows him the stars.

In the back of the book there is a poster of a million stars.  The first time I read this with my son he was so excited to see the poster.  He said, "Wow!  That is a million?"  The next night my husband read the book with him and I was lucky enough to have my camera upstairs.

Here they are looking at the poster with a million stars.  I know it is hard to believe, but they didn't pose for this picture at all!

My husband told my son he could sleep under the stars that night.  They hung the poster on the top bunk.  Yes...they posed for this picture.  My first grader couldn't stop laughing about it!

My first grader chose to read this book every night for almost two weeks.  It is so nice to read a book to him that isn't about super heroes or Skylanders!  He is truly interested in the number 1,000,000 and this was the perfect book for it!