Jensen Huang for kids: a true picture book
From the Dish Sink to the Super Chip. Jensen Huang and the Chip That Draws Fast 10 pages, fact-checked, at three reading levels, read aloud.
The lesson: Start where you are. Bet on the problem nobody else is solving yet.
Read the first pages free
Splash! Swish! Jensen washes dishes. One plate, two plates, so many plates!
Splash! Swish! When Jensen was a teenager, he washed dishes at a restaurant called Denny's. The plates piled up high. He scrubbed them clean, one by one.
In the 1970s, a teenager named Jensen Huang had a job at Denny's, a restaurant where people stop for pancakes and burgers. One of his jobs was washing dishes. Plates, cups and forks came back to the kitchen in a steady stream, and each one had to be scrubbed clean. It was not fancy work. But it was a real job, and that is where this story starts.
Page 1 of 10
Clink, clank! Jensen carries plates. He clears the tables. He brings the food. Busy, busy!
Clink, clank! Jensen did more than wash dishes. He cleared dirty plates from the tables. He waited on tables too, bringing people their food. Busy hands, busy feet!
At Denny's, Jensen did more than wash dishes. He also bused tables, which means clearing away the dirty plates and cups after people finish eating so the table is ready for the next guests. He waited tables too, taking orders and carrying out food. In the 1970s, before he ever built anything, Jensen was learning what it takes to keep a busy place running.
Page 2 of 10
Jensen Huang: a timeline of true facts
- 1970s As a teenager he worked at Denny's, washing dishes, busing tables and waiting tables. source
- 1993 He co-founded Nvidia with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem. The founders planned the company at a Denny's in San Jose. source
- 1999 Nvidia introduced the GeForce 256, which it called the first GPU, a chip built to draw 3D graphics fast. source
- 2010s Researchers found GPUs were very good at training AI, because they do many small calculations at the same time. source
3 reading levels
- Read to me (ages 3–5)
- Read together (ages 6–8)
- I'll read (ages 9–12)
The same true story, written three ways. Little kids hear short, bouncy lines; big kids get the details and the numbers.
Quiz time
Where did Jensen wash dishes?
Show the answer
At Denny's.
Try this at home
- Be a GPU! Write 10 easy addition problems on cards. First, one person solves them all alone while you time it. Then give one card each to 10 family members or friends and solve them all at once. Which way was faster?
- Hold a restaurant-booth meeting: sit at the kitchen table with a grown-up, pick one small problem at home (like messy shoes by the door), and sketch a plan to fix it on a paper placemat.
- Build a 3D shape: fold paper into a cube or stack blocks into a box, then draw it flat on paper. Talk about why drawing 3D shapes is tricky, then build something new from your own sketch.
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