A Million Dots

Winner of the New York Times Top 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2019.

A book to promote interest in numbers and wonder at the scale they can represent, with lots to interrogate and talk about. -- School Library Association

Potential goldmine of teaching ideas. -- School Reading List

Double the numbers to go from 1 to 1,000,000 in 40 pages. A stunning visualization of numbers big and small.

We start with a single tree; 1. As we turn the page, we are presented with a sum doubling the number on the page before it: 1+1 = 2; 2+2 = 4; 4+4 = 8. In this way, we reach a million (actually 1,048,576) within 44 pages.

Each sum is brought to life with a simple graphic illustration in the distinctive style of Sven Völker. The dots form the back of a ladybird, the bubbles in a cup of soda and the water in a swimming pool. On each page, a single neon dot illustrates what one means in the context of the sum.

Gloriously simple in its concept and execution, this is a book that will bring mathematics alive to parents as well as children and will also make a stunning gift book.