Book Review: Books on personal finance for kids

 

Lemonade in Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money by Emily Jenkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am screening books to use in a 6th grade social studies unit on personal finance. I really like that this book shows the value of budgeting in a humorous way. Siblings Pauline and John-John decide to open a lemonade stand in the middle of winter, selling lemonade, limeade, and lemon-limeade. In spite of their parents' warning about the difficulties of selling cold drinks in winter, they collect their money and purchase supplies! For younger students and readers, the book has a nice explanation of money at the end. For purposes of my older students, I like that the book shows what happens if you don't do some budgeting to make sure income covers expenses and can be a conversation starter for how "older, wiser" students might go about this. It does have a sweet ending even though there's a lesson to be learned!

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My Rows and Piles of Coins by Tololwa M. Mollel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am screening books to use in a 6th grade social studies unit on personal finance. This book nicely introduces the concept of income, as Saruni earns coins by helping his mother, and savings, the titular rows and piles of coins that Saruni counts as he saves up for a bicycle. While I am focused on the financial aspects, the book also has nice lessons on the value of hard work, persistence, and kindness. I think this title will spark some interesting conversations among my students.

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If You Made a Million by David M. Schwartz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am screening books to use in a 6th grade social studies unit on personal finance. I just love the Steven Kellogg illustrations in this book, as they have so much fun activity going on. The book covers the key topics of savings, interest, checks and checking accounts, loans, and tax and couples these practical facts with fun facts like how high a stack of $100 in pennies would be. Because the illustrations are so engaging, I'm more inclined to use this as a reading for students rather than as a read-aloud, though the text is perfectly suitable to read aloud as an introduction to the topic. I really appreciate that the book ends with a question that can spur inquiry among students. There is also a helpful note at the end that discusses the concepts covered in the book in more detail.

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Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am screening books to use in a 6th grade social studies unit on personal finance. Though the amounts of money are dated, the story of making bad financial decisions is so, so relatable! This fun tale provides a great, cautionary introduction to the value of budgeting and can be used to introduce the concept of income and expenses. What would students do differently to buy a set of walkie-talkies (or updated: a new phone)??

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