Can You Count to a Googol?

By Robert E. Wells

2000 Gold Seal Award, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio
A Best Book for Children 2001, Science Books & Film

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
• Release date: Jan 1, 2000
• ISBN: 9780807592663

Robert E. Wells

Robert E. Wells is the author and illustrator of many award-winning science books for children, including Can You Count to a Googol? and Why Do Elephants Need the Sun?. He lives with his wife in Washington.

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Reviews for Can You Count to a Googol?

[lquilter_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My 3-1/2 yo stopped fussing about going to bed and started watching intently when I cracked this one for the first time. It's a fun introduction to the "powers of ten" for those who might be a bit too young for the classic film by Charles and Ray Eames.

[adaq-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My 3-1/2 yo stopped fussing about going to bed and started watching intently when I cracked this one for the first time. It's a fun introduction to the "powers of ten" for those who might be a bit too young for the classic film by Charles and Ray Eames.

[meganschneider · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is good for the concept of "large numbers". It continually multiples the number by ten until reaching a googol. I really enjoyed how the book including real facts within it. I did not like the unrealistic aspects however. I think this would be a good book for younger students to learn large numbers. I think having the students multiply one by ten to fill in certain space would be a fun way of incorporating this into a lesson.

[sandra_loya_9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book shows how adding a zero to the end of a number makes it ten times bigger. It uses everyday things to try to explain how big numbers can get. It goes all the way to googol, which is a 1 with 100 zeros behind it.I thought this book was well written and illustrated and does a good job of trying to explain big numbers in simple terms.This book can be used to illustrate multiplying by ten as well as exponents of 10. This can be used in elementary classes to illustrate just how big numbers can be and the concept of multiplying by 10. It can be used in upper elementary and middle school classes to help with exponents although it would take some creativity.