Place Value

February 1, 2016

Gr 1-3-Introducing readers to the concept of place value, this text follows the monkeys of the Banana Cafe at 306 Monkey Lane as they bake a Colossal Banana Cupcake. Adler begins by establishing a connection between numbers and letters: similar to the alphabet, our numerical system is made up of a specific set of pieces (digits) that are used to make numbers. However, some letters, such as A, can stand by themselves as both a letter and word, and the same goes for numbers. As the monkeys begin to gather and combine the ingredients for the cupcake, Adler explains that the value of a digit is determined by its place in a number. Readers are introduced to the ones, tens, and hundreds positions; subsequent pages focus on higher values. Adler uses a money chart to clarify the use of the decimal point. Many key terms are in bold throughout, but the book lacks a glossary and additional resources. Miller's vibrant digitally created illustrations add humor, and the endpapers depict a brightly colored, eye-catching chart. VERDICT This fun and simple explanation of place value provides a strong introduction for young readers.-Meaghan Darling, Long Hill Township Public Library, Gillette, NJ

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2015
Adler tackles yet another difficult math concept using simple language and an excellent comparison. Just as "A is both a word and a letter," "1 is both a number and a digit." Both letters and digits have to be carefully placed in order to express what the writer wants: "cafe" and "face" use the same letters but are most certainly not the same word, and 216 and 621 are different numbers that use the same digits. Using place-value charts throughout (repeated on the front and back endpapers) that highlight in red the individual digits Adler is focusing on, the digital illustrations depict a bunch of smiling monkeys as they follow a recipe to bake a Colossal Banana Cupcake--colossal so as to use the big numbers Adler is describing. On two facing pages, Miller shows towers of eggs--216 white ones and 621 brown ones--divided into hundreds, tens, and ones. Though the hundreds stack of white eggs is 20 tall and the brown one, 25 tall, still readers get the idea that 600 is much greater than 200. When introducing numbers containing decimals, Adler turns to money and gives a good explanation of our number system's history. Throughout, Adler teaches not only the place value, but also how the numbers should be read--there is no "and" in 6,324, but there is one in 632.4. When paired with adult guidance, a "valuable" look at place value. (Math picture book. 5-8)

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December 15, 2015
Grades 1-3 Welcome to the Banana Cafe, where the bakers are cartoonish, red-cheeked, smiling monkeys, and banana cupcakes are served up with a side of math. The book opens immediately to the importance of placement, first in letters with regard to words, and then in digits with regard to numbers, all while the busy bakers get cooking in the background. Adler then expands the discussion of place value from hundreds to hundred trillions. That's a lot of cupcakes! The text is informative, clear, and, most important, kid friendly, though the inclusion of 10 as a single digit is confusing. Place value charts are on almost every page to reinforce the lesson as each step of the baking process increases digits. Miller's lively, cheerful digital illustrations are fun without distracting from the math. Explaining something like place value can be dry, and some passages here might be a tad too long, but Adler and Miller add just enough frosting to this math cupcake to make it digestible. A useful addition to a public, school, or classroom library.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2016
This introduction to place value begins simply enough, and sentences are straightforward throughout ("The place of each digit in a number determines its value"). Alas, the book moves so swiftly from elementary to more advanced that even the banana-cupcake-baking monkeys and gorgeous graphics employed to illustrate the concept can't save the day.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)