
Teaching place value soon? Teaching children place value can be challenging, but picture books offer a fun and engaging way to reinforce this important skill. Here are eleven math picture books that will help your 1st graders grasp place value concepts while enjoying a great story. At the end of this post, I’ve included links to my Place Value Math Games and Place Value Color by Code resources to make your lesson planning even easier!
1. Place Value by David A. Adler

Don’t monkey around with place value! This book explains the importance of the order of the numbers. It also gives the example that order matters when it comes to letters as well. POT is different than TOP. The monkeys are baking the biggest banana cupcake ever. Their recipe calls for 216 eggs, and there is a big difference between 216 eggs and 621 eggs. This book teaches that the place of each digit in a number determines its value.
Click here for Place Value by David Adler.
2. Sir Cumference and All the King’s Tens by Cindy Neuschwander

In this book of the Sir Cumference series, the kingdom is preparing for a big celebration hosted by Sir Cumference and Lady Di. The celebration? A surprise birthday party for King Arthur! They need to count large groups of guests. Sir Cumference and Lady Di of Ameter introduce the concept of grouping by tens to simplify counting. The medieval-themed story adds a unique twist to learning about place value, and the creative storyline keeps students engaged while reinforcing the importance of grouping numbers.
Click here for Sir Cumference and All the King’s Tens.
3. Zero The Hero by Joan Holub

All the numbers think of Zero as nothing. He does not add anything to addition, division, or multiplication. However, Zero knows he is a true hero! This is a fun story for teaching place value. I really like the speech bubbles for each number too!
4. One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes

This rhyming story follows a group of ants as they divide themselves into different groups to reach a picnic faster. The book introduces the concept of grouping numbers in various ways, which ties directly into understanding tens and ones. The playful text and illustrations make it a fun read, and the mathematical concepts presented in the story help students grasp the idea of organizing numbers into groups for easier counting.
Click here for One Hundred Hungry Ants.
5. Two of Everything by Lily Toy Hong

Based on a Chinese folktale, this story introduces the concept of doubling numbers. The magical pot in the story doubles everything placed inside it, which reinforces the importance of understanding place value when numbers grow. The narrative provides a unique way to discuss place value in the context of multiplication and helps students see how numbers change when grouped or increased.
Click here for Two Of Everything.
6. Penguin Place Value: A Math Adventure by Kathleen Stone

I love this book! It is short and to the point and it has fun pictures! The illustrations are adorable. It is about a penguin family collecting fish. They collect their fish and put them on trays. The trays hold 9 fish. Then, they put their fish in boxes that hold 10. In the end, they filled 6 boxes with 4 left on the tray. I really like this place value book because in the end, it shows exactly how we teach place value… by breaking it into tens with the ones left over.
Click here for Penguin Place Value: A Math Adventure.
7. Millions, Billions, and Trillions: Understanding Big Numbers by David A. Adler

This math story helps students understand how numbers grow beyond hundreds and thousands. The book breaks down complex concepts into manageable chunks, using visuals to illustrate how digits move into different places as numbers increase. The story makes the concept of place value more approachable and less intimidating for young readers. I know you are not teaching large numbers like this in first grade, but I still think this is a great read aloud to include during your place value lessons. My kindergartener actually just asked last night about the number one million. He had so many questions!
Click here for Millions, Billions, and Trillions: Understanding Big Numbers.
8. Earth Day Hooray! by Stuart J. Murphy

Stuart J. Murphy’s book is part of the MathStart series and combines a story about cleaning up a park with important math concepts. The children in the story are collecting cans to recycle, and they need to count the total number of cans by grouping them into tens and hundreds. This real-world application of place value helps students see how numbers are used in everyday situations. The environmental theme also makes it a great cross-curricular resource for Earth Day activities.
Click here for Earth Day Hooray!
9. A Place for Zero by Angeline Sparagna LoPresti

This story follows Zero as he struggles to find his place in the world of numbers. He eventually learns that he’s essential in holding places and making other numbers greater. The narrative helps students understand the significance of zero in place value and how it impacts the value of other digits. The story’s engaging plot and whimsical illustrations make it a hit with young readers. It’s a great way to show students that zero isn’t just “nothing”—it has an important role to play in our number system.
Click here for A Place for Zero.
10. How Much Is a Million? by David M. Schwartz

In this book, David M. Schwartz tackles the concept of large numbers in a way that captivates young readers. The story encourages children to think about what a million, billion, and trillion look like. The illustrations bring these enormous numbers to life, helping students understand the importance of place value when dealing with larger numbers. Children will be fascinated by the mind-boggling comparisons, like how long it would take to count to a million. This book provides a unique perspective on why place value matters, even for very large numbers.
Click here for How Much Is A Million?
11. Fair Bear Share by Stuart J. Murphy

This book is about a family of bear cubs. Mama cub tells the 4 bear cubs to collect nuts, berries, and seeds so she can bake a pie. After collecting, they put them in groups of ten. Your students will enjoy this book!
Click here for A Fair Bear Share.
Place Value Activities For Your Classroom
In addition to these books, we have two resources to boost your students’ math success in the elementary classroom!
Place Value Color By Code Sheets

These place value color by code sheets are great for your first graders to strengthen their place value skills. With these sheets, students can practice identifying tens and ones, expanded form, standard form, word form, and base ten blocks.
Place Value Independent Math Games

Another fun way to add place value practice to your math lesson is to add these place value games. These place value games are a great resource for early finishers, math centers, or an independent work activity. Students can use dice or a paperclip for a spinner. Students work on identifying hundreds, tens, and ones with expanded form, word form, and base ten blocks.
Click here to purchase the bundle of both and save 20%!
I hope you enjoyed this short list of fantastic books to teach place value! It is a difficult mathematical concept to teach, but picture books help!
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