Amazon.com
Author David M. Schwartz and illustrator Steven Kellogg, who teamed up for the jubilant How Much Is a Million, have returned to the subject of money in If You Made a Million. Marvelosissimo the Mathematical Magician and his team of cheerful kids (and their multitude of animal friends) wield dusters, brooms, plungers, shovels, and cement as they take on feeding fish, dusting ducks, painting pots, transplanting trees, building bridges, and babysitting ogres. For each job, they'll be paid an appropriate amount of money. But soon the questions arise--what does that much money look like, and how can it be spent, saved, or used to pay off a loan?
"One dollar is worth as much as FOUR QUARTERS or TEN DIMES or TWENTY NICKELS or ONE HUNDRED PENNIES," Marvelosissimo explains, and we witness all the coins, crowding the page. How many and how high a stack is $100 in pennies? Ten thousand of them, in a stack 50-feet high, teeter precariously near a phenomenal airport where the gates are reached via tightrope. Next, Marvelosissimo takes readers to the Bank--a huge edifice complete with red carpets, carved slogans ("Save" and "Be Wise"), and frog attendants--where he explains the concepts of interest and bank loans. Grown-up text brings up the rear of the book, providing additional information on banks, interest and compound interest, checking accounts, loans, and income tax. Throughout, Kellogg's illustrations--highly detailed with silly objects, people, and animals--will keep kids' attention, but the pictures never detract from Schwartz's message that "enjoying your work is more important than money," and "making money means making choices." (Ages 4 to 8) --Ericka Lutz
From Publishers Weekly
Sophisticated mathematical and financial concepts are difficult to teach, yet most children are fascinated by money. In a savvy follow-up to How Much Is a Million? Schwartz and Kellogg have succeeded in presenting money in terms that correspond to how children think. In a funny, accessible way, the team explores relationships between accomplishing tasks and earning payment, saving and spending, and other concepts including interest, the relative value of various denominations, writing checks and even financing a mortgage. Kellogg's typically humorous ink and watercolor drawings will compound reader interest while wittily reinforcing and expanding ideas. An author's note recaps the facts, including a history of money and banking, checks, loans, income tax, and the volume of money vs. its value. Splendid fare. Ages 6-10. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4-- Earning, spending, saving and borrowing money are the subjects explored in this sequel to How Much is a Million? (Lothrop, 1985) . Aided by Ancona's clear photographs of various denominations of money, Schwartz explains economic concepts verbally, while Kellogg fancifully and humorously illustrates them. "Cheerful and Willing" children perform varied chores for Marvelosissimo the Mathematical Magician, who suggests options for using their earnings. As the tasks become more difficult (babysitting an obstreperous ogre, for example) pay increases and options widen. The usual Kellogg profusion of smiling cats, earnest dogs, prancing ponies, and a unicorn fill and spill over the pages. Ideal for classroom use by creative teachers, and attractive enough to keep the interest of even non-mathematically inclined readers, this is sure to be popular. These concepts are more complex than those in Schwartz' previous book, however, and will be best suited to slightly older readers. This is one investment that's sure to pay interest in reader dividends. --Louise L. Sherman, Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJCopyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"Another winner, as original as the first book."
Book Description
If You Made a MillionHave you ever wanted to make a million dollars? Marvelosissimo the Mathematical Magician is ready, willing, and able to explain the nuts and bolts -- as well as the mystery and wonder -- of earning money, investing it, accruing dividends and interest, and watching savings grow. Hey, you never know!An ALA Notable Book A Horn Book Fanfare Selection A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year A Teachers' Choices Selection
Card catalog description
Describes the various forms which money can take, including coins, paper money, and personal checks, and how it can be used to make purchases, pay off loans, or build interest in the bank.
About the Author
In His Own Words..."When I was growing up, the smallest and the largest things in the universe fascinated me most. Compared with them, I could be both a giant and a dwarf at the same time!"When I peered through a microscope to view water from a nearby pond or blood extracted from my own finger, I was transported mentally to wonderful worlds of hidden life. When I looked through a telescope at heavenly bodies, I took marvelous mental journeys into space."I also took real journeys on my bicycle almost every day. To occupy my mind during long rides, I liked to calculate how long it would take to ride a magical bicycle all the way around the Earth... or Jupiter.. or all the way to the Moon... or to the Sun... or to a distant star. Could anybody count the trillions of stars, I wondered, and if so, how long would it take? I wanted to understand numbers like million, billion, and trillion-not just to know what they were, but to have a feel for what they meant. I found it impossible to comprehend huge distances like 93 million miles (the distance to the Sun) but it was fun to try."I once estimated how many books were in my town's public library, and then I told myself, "With so many books, surely I could write just one!" But I never tried until many years later. I studied biology at Cornell University, and became an elementary school teacher. One night I peered upward at a clear sky studded with stars, and all the wonder and excitement I had experienced as a child came flooding back."That night I decided to try to write a book that would boggle children's minds the way mine had been boggled when I contemplated the heavens and the large numbers used to describe them. The result was my first book, How Much Is A Million?"In addition to writing children's books, I write magazine articles for adults. I am especially interested in nature and environmental issues; I now watch birds and bugs as much as stars! Being a writer enables me to learn about a wide range of subjects, from soda fountains and architecture to folk dancing and butterflies, Sometimes I get to visit fascinating places, like the rain forests of South America where I did research for an article about an endangered tribe of indigenous people struggling bravely to save their rain forest home. That trip also led to my book, Yanomami: People of the Amazon."I grew up on Long Island, lived in New England for 20 years, and I recently moved to northern California. When I'm not writing or researching books and articles, I am likely to be outdoors, enjoying the activities I have always loved: walking and bicycling, watching birds and gazing at the stars. They still boggle my mind!"
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