A Budget for Bingo: (Penny Power)

Written by Tori Filas

Illustrated by Ethan Roffler

Fizzy and Lou are two siblings who want to adopt a dog as a new member of their family. They have a conversation with their mother.

She quickly points out that adopting an animal is like assuming responsibility for a new member of the family. Mom points out there will be new expenses, responsibilities, and job- sharing. The children learn about preparing a budget to pay for the expenses, and the work entailed in having a pet. They even discover new ways to earn that money and practice responsible leadership skills.

This book is the first in a series that will teach children about finance and money. Using animals as an important part of the story line is a clever idea. The vocabulary reinforcement section at the end of the book can be used to review the concepts taught. It is a wonderful introduction to economics for elementary school-age children. Highly recommended to parents and teachers of children to learn about budgeting.

The Lemonade Stand ( My Teacher Hilda Book 4)

Written by Tamar Bobokhidze

Illustrated by Salome Equizashvili

There are a lot of valuable life lessons packed into this book. In fact, two separate stories run side by side in Ms. Hilda’s classroom. The first story centers around the class desire to purchase a hamster for a class pet. Ms. Hilda points out that they will need money and guides the children when they come up with the idea of raising money by setting up a lemonade stand. During the process, children learn about being polite, trying new foods, taking turns, and teamwork in achieving their objective.

The second story involves their afternoon project of recreating their paintings into physical objects with playdough. When the children discover that there are more colors in the paintings than in their play dough, they must learn about primary and secondary colors and how to create and mix them.

Readers learn life lessons as they follow a day in Ms. Hilda’s classroom. I do wish the text size were larger as beginning readers might find it too small, but I would still highly recommend this series to parents and teachers of primary school age children.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please subscribe by clicking on the word Follow or by hitting the orange RSS FEED button in the upper right-hand corner of this page.

A Guide to Investing for Kids: Teaching Them About Money While They Are Young

Written by Stephanie R. Baker

This book is based on the author’s theory that children who learn how to be financially independent and conscious of tracking their own expenses grow up not only to be self-aware but good global citizens. Baker gives reasons for children to learn fiscal responsibility like how to invest and be responsible for handling their own money by choosing their own purchases wisely. They learn financial independence from their parents and awareness of community needs around them. These children acquire goals and dreams of future financial success.

Children may learn how to invest by talking with their parents and picking up knowledge from schools and community programs. There are many different platforms offered for children’s investment, and Baker lists several of them with links to finding them on the internet. Alternatives to stock investment include lotteries and investing in independent funds that parents set up for them. Certainly, if many children would choose investment and financial independence the entire world community would benefit both in the short and long term.

I think this book is a worthwhile investment for parents and grandparents to consider in creating strong, resilient, independent, successful citizens of the future. Recommended for children age eight years and older to read and discuss with parents and teachers.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please subscribe by clicking on the word Follow or by hitting the orange RSS FEED button in the upper right-hand corner of this page.