Pebbles and the Biggest Number by Joseph Benun
“What’s the biggest number there is?” is a question plenty of parents have heard. That, along with questions like “What’s an atom?” and “What’s the temperature of the sun?” soon bring on an impromptu interrogation on how the world works. Many a parent, guardian or even teacher has had to quickly and subtly do a Google search to find a satisfactory answer.
But the wh– questions of early childhood don’t have to be so daunting, thanks to informative books like Joey Benun’s Pebbles and the Biggest Number. This charming tale of a butterfly’s search for new knowledge packs tons of information into 48 pages, keeping readers of every age fascinated and engaged.
There’s Got to Be More Out There!
Pebbles the butterfly is getting bored. Every day he flies over his garden and counts the flowers — 42 exactly. Surely, there have to be bigger numbers out there, numbers that will challenge him and make him scratch his head. In fact, Pebbles is starting to wonder if there’s one number out there that’s bigger than all the rest.
Determined to find out, he flies from his garden to the arid desert, to the tropical rainforest and even a snowy mountain range, all in search of the elusive king of all numbers. Pebbles meets dozens of animals along the way, all with their own number to share — 27 million (the temperature of the sun), 3 trillion (the number of trees on Earth) and 1 septillion (the number of stars in the sky). Although strangely, with every encounter Pebbles has, he seems to get a bigger number. Surely someone out there knows what the top number is!
It takes a conversation with another butterfly to discover the concept of infinity; but while this means Pebbles’ original quest can’t quite be fulfilled, he’s still amazed by what he’s learned. It turns out that there are, in fact, an infinite number of things to be learned about Earth!
Boring? Not in This Book!
Topics like statistics often get the short end of the stick when it comes to children’s learning. We can all probably remember zoning off in a math class or two, which leads to the common complaint that “numbers are boring!” But books like Pebbles and the Biggest Number show that this kind of thinking isn’t at all true. It turns out that when you look past the small garden of your surroundings, there are a ton of amazing facts to be learned.
Alongside Pebbles’ adventures are yet more engaging details to pique kids’ interests. From facts about our Lepidoptera protagonist (that’s science-talk for butterfly!) to more statistics and truths about the ecosystems Pebbles visits, there’s always something new for kids to learn with every re-read.
Laura Watson’s colorful illustrations add even more appeal to the book, capturing the story’s great sense of fun. With these vibrant visuals, a lovable protagonist and intriguing facts for both children and adults to learn, Pebbles and the Biggest Number is sure to become your little statistician’s next story time favorite.
Joey Benun has always thought BIG. His fascination with numbers began when he was five years old—the bigger, the better. Years later, a fortuitous conversation with his niece and nephews inspired him to write a book about BIG numbers for little kids. Thus, Pebbles and the Biggest Number was born! Years before Pebbles took flight, nine-year-old Joey wrote his first comic book series about a disgruntled ketchup packet who resents being discarded and turns into The Ketchup Monster.
Today, Joey works and lives in Brooklyn, New York, as an Amazon account manager for his family-owned apparel business, The Bentex Group. During his free time, he enjoys engaging in religious studies, listening to TED Talks and playing tennis.
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