For children, money is not the root of all evil, but the root of all choice. From the time they become money-aware, somewhere between the age of five to eight, they start a lifelong financial decisionmaking process. Growing up in a mediamad world where there's little shelter from commercialism, questions come early. Will they spend, save, give gifts, invest? What's worth buying and how can they get their hands on extra money? Seven new books are available to guide them through the mazes of low and high finance.
Two new books are packaged with banks to provide extra appeal. For young children, Charlie, the pig, demonstrates first financial issues in Chris Kloet's Piggy Bank (Dutton, $9.99; ages 5-7). The porcine-shaped book fits snugly into the side of a plush piggy bank, pairing a currency receptacle with a story. Charlie's relationship with money begins when he finds a penny. After quite a bit of indecision, he decides to save it. When Charlie's paid for an errand, he adds this money to his stash, and again faces a financial quandary. Should he buy himself something,or get something for his sister? Again, he decides to save. By the book's end, Charlie's birthday arrives and he's receives every possession he's contemplated buying. Savoring his own material satisfaction, he decides he'll save money to buy presents for others.
For older children, the save or spend concern has non-fiction, more sophistocated answers in another book-bank combo, Elaine Wyatt and Stan Hinden's The Money Book and Hideaway Bank: A smart kid's guide to savvy saving and spending (Somerville House, $14.99; ages 6-10). The book-shaped bank separates various sized coins and the text sorts money ideas just as efficiently. The authors present a history and lots of information about money, but the best part of the book is the financial framework it suggests. Lots of questions and several worksheets help children decide what they really want, determine costs, place values on what their services are worth, start a business, chart expenses and income, set a budget, escape the ploys of marketing, shop smart, and even investigate investment and giving.
There's an incredible array of money styles in Teddy Slater's fictional Max's Money by (Scholastic, $3.99; ages 5-8). Max has only two dollars for his mother's birthday present. As he looks for help from family members, his oldest sister warns of incurring more debt. One brother presents an itemized accounting of previous debts, while another brother lets Max work to earn some money. This easy-to-read book uses realistic characters and family relationships to explain individual fiscal approaches, accounting, computing, responsibility, debt, and negotiating in the world with very little money. Not only does it leave much room for dollar discussions, but math expert Marilyn Burns offers story-related math activities at the book's end.
Many children come to a time in their lives when allowance alone isn't enough, and they become budding entrepreneurs. For those who want to create their own companies, Conn McQuinn's Kid Biz (Puffin, $10.99; ages 8 and up) is a great resource. The book begins with a detailed consideration process, quickly moves on to structures to help children evaluate their ideas, and then offers specific suggestions to get businesses off the ground. There are practical ideas for advertising, handling customers, and directions for developing a business plan and budget. Next, McQuinn offers ideas for thirty businesses from Lawn Mowing to Garage Sales Manager. There are jobs for those who want to be outdoors, work with children, can use computer to their advantage, or craft useful items. An accompanying disk helps children manage their endeavors and results with revenue-expense-profit spreadsheets and templates for advertisements, invoices, and other business forms. The writing is clear, the style approachable and graphically pleasing. Commentaries written by young business owners provide first-hand experiences and vantage points.
For more visual children, there's the careful detailed picture book chronicling a company's growth process in Wendy Anderson Halperin's Once upon a company...a True Story (Orchard, $16.95; ages 6 and up). This is the tale of the author-illustrator's family triumph as her three siblings united forces to begin The College Fund Wreath Company. The book traces six years of the company's expansion and the paths the children followed on their way to making over $16,000. Halperin's lively telling and her colorful tiny pictures reflect the joy, excitement and inspirations found from inception to profit investment .
As children grow, their relationship with money grows more sophisticated. This year during a social studies unit, my daughter selected six stocks, watched them grow, and traded them when she wasn't pleased with their performance. Now she wants to try the real thing. I asked her to start her investment process by reading Gail Karlitz and Debbie Honig's Growing Money: A Complete Guide for Kids (Price Stern Sloan,$6.99; ages interested 9 and up). The book opens the doors to understanding savings accounts, bonds, stocks, mutual funds,and how to choose investments. With a playful writing style, illustrative examples, and interactive elements, the authors allow children to understand how their personal style relates to investment. Children can measure their knowledge of the stock market, discover their risk quotient, find good investment matches for their personalities, and even record their stock-watching and portfolio value! The simplicity and readability of this book make it a resource even investment-confused parents can learn from.
Hollis Page Harman's Money $ense for Kids (Barrons, $9.95; ages 7 and up) is a resource to help through all stages of money matters. Harman, a mom who also happens to be a financial planner, remembers her own first adventures with money and has retained this perspective so her books speaks to children. She writes about coins and bills with information that's historical, anecdotal, and helpful to beginning collectors. She gives easy ideas to begin healthy money management habits. Throughout, she explains money with analogies that are meaningful to children, shows how math plays into the making money process, and provides charts, forms, and questions to guide children as they develop more and more sophisticated interests. Included are games to measure the knowledge gained, an excellent glossary, and resources of websites and books.
Whether covering a specific money issue, or handling more than one concern, these books give a clear picture of every financial phase with a minimum of words and maximum practicality certain to inspire dollars and cents savvy.