Fast-paced, fun, and filled with enough interesting tidbits to engage any curious mind.
Pebbles is an inquisitive monarch butterfly with a penchant for numbers. One day, after beginning a regular inventory of all the colorful plants in his lovely garden, Pebbles stops short of his usual 42 flowers. He wonders what the largest number is, so Pebbles begins an extensive quest beyond the boundary of his small patch of land to find the answer. From snow-capped mountains to the sand-rimmed sea, this fascinated butterfly visits diverse landscapes and meets a plucky assortment of helpful creatures while narrowly escaping a few wild weather events and not-too-scary natural disasters. Besides getting a sense of numbers larger than he’s ever seen before, Pebbles’ travels help him gain insights about every location under the sun and beyond. Whether it’s the huge number of ants marching around the planet or the staggering amount of stars dotting the heavens, Pebbles continues searching for larger and larger numbers in order to identify which one is the absolute largest. It isn’t until he meets another tallying butterfly that he excitedly realizes just how big numbers can really get.
An unparalleled counting book, Pebbles and the Biggest Number takes numbers to new heights. Rather than stop at ten or even a hundred, Benun’s picture book offers children a basic education on such numbers as billion, trillion, and even nonillion! Though this may seem daunting for young minds, the book is intentionally versatile, being adaptable to the learning level of each child. For younger children, you could simply enjoy the story of a boisterous butterfly visiting unexpected places and making new friends, focusing little ones’ attention on the bright, vibrant graphics and helping them to spot familiar plants, insects and animals. However, for older kids, the book is replete with fun facts and science notes that, even for adults, range from moderately interesting to downright mind-boggling. Just try to guess how much water a cloud can hold! But more than a list of facts and numbers, the author presents the information in practical ways that might even change the way we relate to our surroundings. Between the impressive figures found in the Number Notes and the whimsically profound information gleaned from the Science Spots, it’s tough to imagine walking away without a newfound appreciation for our awe-inspiring universe. Joey Benun skillfully simplifies complex topics, weaving them into an approachable and entertaining storyline that only gets better with each reading. A perfect introduction to basic number theory, Pebbles and the Biggest Number is fast-paced, fun, and filled with enough interesting tidbits to engage any curious mind.
