Place Value

by David A. Adler

You had better not monkey around when it comes to place value. The monkeys in this book can tell you why! As they bake the biggest banana cupcake ever, they need to get the amounts in the recipe correct. There’s a big difference between 216 eggs and 621 eggs. Place value is the key to keeping the numbers straight. Using humorous art, easy-to-follow charts and clear explanations, this book presents the basic facts about place value while inserting some amusing monkey business.

Genres: Mathematics, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, 2nd Grade, Number, 1st Grade

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2016

About the author

David Abraham Adler is an American children's author. He was born in New York City, New York in 1947. He graduated from Queens College in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics and education. For the next nine years, he worked as a mathematics teacher for the New York City Board of Education, while taking classes towards a master's degree in marketing, a degree he was awarded by New York University in 1971. In that same year, a question from his then-three-year-old nephew inspired Adler to write his first story, A Little at a Time, subsequently published by Random House in 1976. Adler's next project, a series of math books, drew on his experience as a math teacher. In 1977, he created his most famous character, Cam Jansen, originally featured in Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds, which was published that year.

Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career.

Adler's son, Michael S. Adler, is now the co-author of several books with his father, including A Picture Book of Sam Adams, A Picture Book of John Hancock, and A Picture Book of James and Dolly Madison. Another son, Edward, was the inspiration for Adler's Andy Russell series, with the events described in the series loosely based on adventures the Adler family had with Edward's enthusiasm and his pets.

As of November 2008, Adler has three sons and two grandsons. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

(source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Errolynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Place value is written by David A. Adler and was published by Holiday House on February 28, 2016. This book is 32 pages long, with a lexile level of 610- making this book a GRL of L. This book is appropriate for students in grades 1-3.
There are many monkeys playing and baking in this book, all the while teaching students the sometimes difficult concept of place value. Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands- and even millions! This book uses kid friendly language in order to teach young learners in a creative and effective way.
Teaching idea: Play 'Place Value Whack It!' Using this game, the whole body learning approach is used to solidify a math concept. Using painters tape to create a place value chart, number cards and a fly swatter, students will smack each number card and say the number in unit form. This activity goes along with the CCSS 1.NBT.2- Understand that the two digits of a two-digit number represent amounts of tens and ones. Understand the following as special cases:
a. 10 can be thought of as a bundle of ten ones — called a “ten.”
b. The numbers from 11 to 19 are composed of a ten and one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or nine
ones.
c. The numbers 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 refer to one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or nine
tens (and 0 ones).

[Stephanie Watson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book covers a LOT of ideas very quickly. There are some good things going on here - the comparison of the alphabet to the number system could be a powerful tool, and he goes a bit into the history of numbers - but because he's trying to cover so many complex ideas, these register more as long and distracting extras than key elements of the book. Same goes for the illustrations - I like the idea of the baking monkeys, and it's a good way to make this concept a little more fun and understandable for the kids, but it ends up competing with instead of working with the text. Plus- they don't even match up. For example, the final page says "329,465,180,708,643. Three hundred twenty-nine trillion! That's a lot!" The monkey on the page says, "that's a lot of sprinkles", leading the reader to think that's how many sprinkles are on the page - yet there's probably not even 2,000. In a book trying to teach place value and the difference it makes on where numbers are, an illustration like that can be really misleading and confusing for readers.

[Teresa Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, let's face it--place value is not exactly a fascinating subject for a book. Nevertheless, David Adler and his band of merry monkeys (illustrated by Edward Miller) give a good overview of the concept. With the backdrop of a bakery readers learn about the places both to the left and right of the decimal point. Emphasis is placed on the fact that it is not the number so much as its placement that really determines value. Teachers will find this a valuable book to share with classes when discussing this vital math concept.

[Cassidy DerKosrofian]

Two picturebooks that address different mathematical concepts
Title (italicize): Place Value
Author: David A. Adler
Illustrator (if separate from author): Edward Miller
Genre: Children's literature, Children's non-fiction literature
Theme(s): Math
Opening line/sentence (type directly from text): A is both a word and a letter.
Brief Book Summary (2-3 sentences in your own words): This book teaches several math related skills. It also introduces terms related to math and numbers.
Response to Two Professional Reviews (3-4 sentences in your own words): Kirkus reviews recommended that this book be paired with adult guidance, as the material is a hard concept. The review also said the book used simple language and an excellent comparison to tackle a difficult math concept.
Tell Me Framework (4 sentences in your own words):
Like(s): I like the illustrations in this book.
Dislike(s): I feel that the level of understanding is higher than expected, I don’t think preschoolers would comprehend.
Patterns(s): All of the concepts introduced revolve around the same topic, monkeys and bananas.
Puzzle(s): Why are so many different terms and concepts introduced?
Consideration of Instructional Application (3-4 sentences in your own words): This book could be read during a math lesson. Monkey and banana cut outs could be used for matching activities, counting activities, adding activities, etc. This book could be read before the activities.

[Hannah Sale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a fun book that definitely discusses place value in numbers and letters. I do not like how fast this book reads with how much content is included. This book does teach students how to identify place value which is great if that is your goal. I would read this book to 1st-2nd graders but I would heavily break down each page with students. There is also a good lesson on how we read numbers in this book. One thing that I do love is how the theme of the story is about monkeys (which most students know what a monkey is) and baking (which is also something students are familiar with). This keeps students engaged despite the heavy content. One activity that we can do as a class is 'bake' a treat using numbers and place values. You could make a trail mix or a cookie recipe and have students identify the place value in the number of ingredients. This would tie in the academic concept, the book, and real-life examples.

[Morgan Rawson]

this book is a adorable story that teaches place value and the base ten system using monkey and banana. I would use this book to teach a blended program of both math and English. I would use this book in kindergarten. This book has a almost lyrical sentence structure. the pictures are cartoonish in design. the author of this book is one of my favorite children authors he wrote the picture book of different historical people series and the can Jenson series. he was a math teacher before becoming an author. he also wrote How Tall, How Short, How Faraway?, which is another math book I love.

[Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Several monkeys attempt to bake an enormous banana cupcake in this picture book with hilarious digital artwork. They must, however, pay attention to numbers and place values if it is to turn out correctly. The author gives a brief explanation of the relevance of ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands in place values, as well as a brief history of the Hindu-Arabic numbering system and its emphasis on tens. This book could be useful for math teachers who want to introduce this idea to their elementary students in a pleasant approach. Adler has a way of demystifying things that can be difficult to grasp.

[Tori Crews]

This a fantastic educational book that teaches the importance of place value in math. The story follows a group of students as they learn about the different values of numbers and how to apply them in various mathematical operations. This book uses simple language and colorful illustrations to help children understand hard concepts such as ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands. It also provides practical examples that make learning fun and engaging. I love how this book has the ability to simplify mathematical concepts and make them accessible to young readers. This is an excellent resource for parents and teachers who want to instill a love of learning and help them excel in math.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some baker monkeys help explain place value.

This is a whirlwind explanation of place value for kids. It would be a great way to review after covering the topic more slowly, and check if students really understand. Probably not the best resource for just introducing the topic though. I did like how it distinguished between numbers and digits, so for that concept this would be good for teaching the first time. All the place value stuff is presented quickly with just one or two examples and kids are likely to not catch on with just this exposure.

[Mariah Everett · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a fun book and I like how it compares the concept of letters in a word to digits in a number. I also appreciate pages 12 and 13 which respresent the number 216 and 621 in egg form:)

However, in my opinion this book is not appropriate for it's targeted age group of K-3. If I were to use this book in the classroom, I might take one page and use that as a lesson in and of itself. But I would never expect Kindergarteners to grasp all of these ideas about place value in the format in which it's presented.

[Elizabeth S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adler is a wizard at picture-book math concepts. And this does not disappoint. My first-grader enjoys reading it AND having it read to him over and over again.

The book starts by demonstrating that digits and numbers are different in the same way that letters and words are different. It then points out that P-O-T is different than T-O-P, which paves the way for showing how 621 and 216 are also different. And moves on from there. Extremely well done.

[Hang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture book covered many math ideas. It was informative and humorous with great artwork. This story covers place value and how important it is to pay attention to the numbers you are working with. This book would be great to share as an introduction to place value in an early education classroom. I especially liked how the author of this book talked about the history of the Hindu-Arabic number system and why that is important to place value in our current classroom and our lives.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is slightly busy and has a lot to look at when you are reading. If you are just introducing your students to place values I would not recommend this book. I think this book would be a great review for the children that already understand place value. This book does a good job and explaining what place value is, I would recommend this book for any classroom library above kindergarten.

[Jada Finkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Place value is book about a group of monkeys working together to bake the largest banana cupcake to ever exist. The only way they can do this is by knowing place value. The recipe calls for 216 eggs it would be terrible if they accidentally put 621 eggs. This fun animated book provides a clear explanation of the basic facts about place value.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like teaching math concepts with books and this is a great book for teaching place value. However, if using it for a first time through, it goes way too far. We are learning the first 3 places so we kinda skimmed over the last few pages as we were reading. I guess we'll have to return to this when we graduate to the thousands.

[AMY · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a pretty good book and could be used by a teacher in a classroom to discuss place value in math. There is nothing very exciting about it but it would be good to use if there is nothing else available on the subject. Recommended for Grades 2-4.

[Sydney Martindale · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. This book would be good for fifth and fourth graders when they start learning place value; it can also be very useful when younger kids are learning base ten numbers, but other than that there wasn't anything that stood out to me.

[Macie Estes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a GREAT way to bring reading and math together. Its engaging explanation of place value, with an introduction to decimal points and understanding money, does an excellent job at teaching digits, numbers, and more. I would definitely recommend for classroom use.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explains place values in math. The illustrations of the little monkeys are very cute, but their story is mostly in the illustrations. The text emphasizes the math, textbook-style, and could be used by a teacher or home schooler explaining place values.

[Ms.Theisen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book talks about all the different place values. It is really long. If possible, I would suggest shortening it by skipping a few pages or summarizing. Even with summarizing, my 2nd graders struggled to sit through the whole book.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gets a little wordy for a numbers book, but I can see how it's hard to convey math involving decimal points without a lot of seeming over-explanation. Watching the monkeys baking a huge cupcake throughout the course of the book was a great use of relevant comic relief!

[Whole And · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and simple content to better understand place value which can take some time and creativity to grasp. A little bit wordy with large number repetition but overall a good supplement to math work.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prose: Informational

[Jessica Strait · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love the idea…. But the art didn’t clarify things, if anything it made it more confusing!

[Heidi Ostergaard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kids learn place values in 1st and second grade but the language this book uses is way beyond their level. It is overly wordy and my kids lost interest.

[Mrs Mommy Booknerd http://mrsmommybooknerd.blogspot.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books that teach complicated information in an easy to understand way. Adler is a master of this. He uses brilliant visual components that help aid in learning. He creates an understanding of place value, the use of commas in numbers, the importance of the decimal in numbers and so much more. This is all done in a way that is easily understood. I love that these books are written because it allows our younger (and older) kids to learn concepts in a way that decreases frustration. I think learning and reading should be both fun and engaging and Adler merges the two together flawlessly. This book is a must in the classroom and home libraries!

[Yvonne Mullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Adler has a remarkable talent for teaching content vocabulary and concepts through picture books. He takes a complex concept like place value and breaks it down to understandable parts. Place Value begins by comparing a word and letter to a number and a digit. Adler sets the reader up for understanding by comparing the letters of the alphabet to the 10 digits that make up our number system. It is easy to see how letters and numbers can be rearranged to show endless words and numbers. Using concrete examples helps young learners comprehend ideas being presented while entertaining readers with a group of monkeys making one very large banana cupcake. Additional concepts taught are:
• The use of commas in large numbers.
• Place value up to the hundred trillions.
• Using a decimal point and connection to fraction.
• Money and using the decimal point.
• Writing numbers with words.
• The history of our number system.
The visuals throughout this book are exceptional. Although this is a picture book and geared towards readers in grade 1-3. As a teacher, this book can be used for grades 1-5 because of the content covered. Place Value is an outstanding way to bring literacy into content areas.

[Darin Raguse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Core Curricular Tie: Grades 2-3 Math/Number Sense/Numeric Relationships

Explanation:
This book introduces and explores the concept of place value. It begins by setting up an easy to understand connection between letters and numbers. It continues by depicting a group of monkeys that must follow a particular recipe, or order, to make banana cupcakes. This book would be introduced as a read aloud as the teacher would need to point out specific concepts and terms, which are conveniently shown in bold lettering, as they're introduced.

Rationale:
I chose this book because it breaks down a sometimes complex and dry concept into simplistic and enjoyable terms. It provides numerous very clear yet entertaining examples that could serve as reference material for a teacher that is working to help students understand the importance of placement when working with digits. While the book is focused on ones, tens, and hundreds, it creatively uses the monkeys to introduce place values into the trillions.

[Jillian · Rating 1 out of 5]

One illustration in this book had a dial shown on either side of a number box. The one on the left was labeled "Right" (because the arrow in the dial pointed to the right) and the one on the right was labeled "Left" (again, because of the arrow). I found this strangely symbolic of the book as a whole - if you look closely, the right information is there, but if you're just glancing, you'll be lost forever.

I was not a fan of this one. The writing was very circular - it tried to repeat a formula like "their order is different, so they are different," etc. But it was trying to shove so much information into very simple sentences that it was difficult to follow.
It also tried to teach too much - the history of the Hindu-Arabic number system, fractions, decimals, counting money - to try to illustrate place value....and I got lost.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this picture book filled with humorous digital artwork, several monkeys try to bake an enormous banana cupcake. But if it's going to come out right, they need to pay attention to numbers and place values. The author provides a brief history of the Hindu-Arabic numbering system and its reliance on tens, and then gives a helpful overview of the importance of ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands in place values. Math teachers might find this book helpful in introducing this concept to their elementary classrooms while doing so in a fun way. Adler has the gift of simplifying concepts that can often be confusing.