Let's Make a Difference: We Can Help Orangutans, by Gabriella Francine and Solara Vayanian

Let's Make a Difference:

We Can Help Orangutans 

Authors: Gabriella Francine and Solara Vayanian 

Publisher: BBM Books 

Publication Date: October 1, 2013

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My three-year-old (well, she'll be four by the time this review is published, but she was three when we first read it) and I both loved this book, with its big, glossy photos of mother and baby orangutans. It has a lot of information about things that threaten orangutan habitats and how we can help. 

I do wish it had gone further though. As Magda pointed out, it looked like all of the photographs were just of the same mother and baby and she wasn't sure if there were any adult male orangutans pictured at all (I think she's right). 

The advice for how kids can help is limited to things like gathering change from couch cushions to send to charity organizations. After reading Joe the Monkey Learns to Share, from the Money Mammals series, Magda and I were both filled with ideas about having "Spend-Share-Save" jars so children can make charity a regular part of their money management, even at a young age (an idea that we did adapt at home). So by comparison, this seemed like limited advice, especially considering it's supposed to be a "Coins for Causes" book.

Overall, it's great BUT I wish it had included a lot more information. There are ways to make it accessible to both very young and much older kids, by including both large photos AND extra information (in the back or in information boxes). 

More Money Please: The Financial Secrets You Never Learned in School, by Scott Gamm

More Money Please:

The Financial Secrets You Never Learned in School 

Author: Scott Gamm 

Publisher: Plume 

Publication Date: April 30, 2013

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I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels my stomach leap into my throat when I think about money. Just the words finances, budget and debt make me feel like I'm going to throw up. It's not that I don't know how important it is to understand where my money goes and how to budget it, and it's not like I'm even that "bad with money." It's just stressful. 

But Scott Gamm gets that. He knows I don't like thinking about money. He knows you don't like thinking about money. So he didn't fill his book with lots of extra noise about how you should "feel" about your finances, or try to convince you to enjoy doing taxes. He just got right to the point. He's like your straightforward, reliable friend who comes to help you move by loading sh*t on to your truck, not spending hours talking about where you got this particular teapot. He's to the point and he gets it done.

This book is like that. It's filled with practical, specific and straightforward advice. Some of it is a lot more applicable to Americans than Canadians (things like tax laws and student loan procedures) but the principals are sound. How to make a budget. How to choose a bank. Why you need to be saving for retirement now. There's even a section on job search skills, which I assume is aimed at a younger reader who is new to the job market.

I can't say he alleviated my low-level stress about thinking about handling my money, but he gave me a very helpful guidebook for actually doing something about it.

WIN A COPY of Joe the Monkey Saves for a Goal, by John Lanza!

Have you been trying to think of ways to talk to your child about money? If so, I highly recommend the Money Mammals series by John Lanza. I've previously reviewed two books in the series: Joe the Monkey Learns to Share and Joe the Monkey Saves for a Goal. Both were fantastic and really inspired my three-year-old, Magda, to start her own "3-Jar" system to manage her allowance and birthday money. She now has jars labelled "Spend," "Save," and "Share" (plus a fourth one labelled "Invest" for money that goes right into the bank).

Now the author is pairing up with Cozy Little Book Journal and The Bookish Elf to give you a chance to win a copy of the first book in the series, Joe the Monkey Saves for a Goal! 

Use the widget below to enter. Contest runs until Sunday, May 12, 2013 (which is Mother's Day!). Also, continue reading to see pictures of Magda's Spend-Share-Save-Invest jars!

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Follow Your Money: Who Gets It, Who Spends It, Where Does It Go? by Kevin Sylvester and Michael Hlinka

Follow Your Money:

Who Gets It, Who Spends It, Where Does It Go? 

Authors: Kevin Sylvester and Michael Hlinka 

Illustrator: Kevin Sylvester 

Publisher: Annick Press 

Publication Date: February 4, 2013

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The idea behind the book is solid: Why do things cost what they cost? If an item costs a dollar to make but sells for thirty, who gets the other twenty-nine dollars? This thought experiment is repeated a few dozen times in the book with items the authors must have figured kids would be interested in, like sneakers and music. Unfortunately, it mostly feels like a repeated thought experiment, since there's no reason to think that the numbers they use are anything but theoretical. The first example is a "10 dollar cardboard box," for instance. Ten dollars for a cardboard box??

Throughout the book the numbers they give for what things cost all seem randomly chosen and not at all accurate. The breakdown of a metro transit bus ticket, for example, includes things like fuel costs, worker salaries, bus maintenance, etc., but it does not acknowledge that virtually no transit system in the world is sustained entirely by the cost of a rider ticket. (This is something I know about. There was a transit strike in my city last year and I did a lot of research on transit systems in Canada and the rest of the world, trying to figure out what the costs were in other cities. The overwhelming majority of transit systems only get about half of their funding from rider tickets and the other half from government support.)

It may sound like I'm being picky, but the book is presented as if the numbers ARE solid facts, as if the reader could take that information and break down the exact costs of various items (how much goes to production, distribution, profit, etc.). But without the benefit of accuracy (which I don't believe this book has...or if so, it's a gross oversimplification at best), it's really just a long list of examples and not much else.

Joe the Monkey Saves for a Goal: A Loop-Dee-Loo Story (A Share-Save-Spend Smart Book), by John Lanza (illustrations by John Lanza and Patrick Rooney)

Joe the Monkey Saves for a Goal:

A Loop-Dee-Loo Story

(A Share-Save-Spend Smart Book)

Author: John Lanza

Illustrators: John Lanza and Patrick Rooney

Publisher: Snigglezoo

Publication Date: April 1, 2010

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Joe the Monkey Saves for a Goal is the first book in the "Share-Save-Spend Smart" series. I previously reviewed the book Joe the Monkey Learns to Share and I was very impressed. The series is great for helping kids see that money management is something they can do at any age. 

It's not always easy to talk to your kids about money. You want them to develop good financial habits, but where do you start? I was talking about this with my cousin Lisa just the other day (Well, she's the wife of my partner's second cousin once removed, so...I guess I was talking about this with my friend Lisa). We have kids the same age (3 1/2) and she was saying her son was asking her where quarters come from and how he could get more quarters for his collection. I told her how we had been talking to our own child, Magda, about money using a "three jars" concept that we learned about from the book Joe the Monkey Learns to Share. 

The idea is that children divide up their money (whether it's allowance, birthday money, etc.) into "spend," "save" and "share" jars (we also added a fourth jar called "invest" for money that goes directly into the bank). Some of their money can be used for immediate goals, like buying little treats (the "spend" jar) but if they want to buy something big they'll need to save up (the "save" jar). This book is specifically about the save jar.

Joe the Monkey wants to buy a new vine (he's a monkey...that's like an Xbox to him) but it costs too much money. He doesn't have twenty dollars! His allowance is only four! But he REALLY wants it, which means he'll have to save up for a few weeks and not spend his money on little things if he wants to buy the big thing he has his eye on. It's not easy, and he's very tempted to say forget it and just buy candy. But in the end he realizes it's worth it to save his money for something he really wants.

I love this series. It's fun, it's accessible, it's kid-friendly. Oh, and it's secular too. That may not be important to everybody, but I've come across quite a few Christian-based books about the three jars system. Those are great if they fit your religious values, but if not, it's great to have non-religious options. Besides, the John Lanza books could easily be read by Christian and non-Christian families alike. 

The 5 Money Personalities: Speaking the Same Love and Money Languages, by Scott and Bethany Palmer

The 5 Money Personalities:

Speaking the Same Love and Money Language

Authors: Scott Palmer and Bethany Palmer 

Published by Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: January 1, 2013

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I'm not one who reads a lot of self-help books, particularly those aimed at couples. I find the advice is usually so general (because it has to be if it's going to apply to everybody) that I could figure it out on my own, or else it's specific but certainly not specific to me (i.e. it makes assumptions about my religion, philosophy or goals). A lot of them just seem like gimmicks.

But The 5 Money Personalities is a little different. Everyone can relate to money. Everyone sharing a household and sharing expenses has to figure out how to make money decisions together. And a lot of us feel intimidated by the prospect.

The 5 Money Personalities is not a financial planning guide. It's not there to chastise you for the poor financial decisions you've made in the past, nor to tell you what investments to make in the future. It's a book for couples--or anyone who shares finances with someone else--to help take stock of the decisions we make and why, and to understand why our partners may make very different decisions.

Joe the Monkey Learns to Share: A Story of Giving, by John Lanza (illustrated by John Lanza and Patrick Rooney)

Joe the Monkey Learns to Share:

A Story of Giving

(A Money Mammals Share-Save-Spend Smart Book)

Author: John Lanza

Illustrators: John Lanza and Patrick Rooney

Editor: Marilyn Walton

Publisher: Snizzlezoo Books

Publication Date: December 3, 2012

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There are a number of books on the market that talk about the "three jars" concept of money saving--encouraging children to divide their money into jars for saving, for spending and for giving--but I like this one in particular because it is aimed at children directly in the form of a storybook, and because it's not religious-based. I'm not  saying there's anything wrong with religious books about saving, it's just that they're not for everyone. This one, part of the Money Mammals series, is more universal. 

Based on the story and illustrations I would say that Joe the Monkey Learns to Share is aimed at elementary school aged children, but my three-year-old daughter Magda loved it as well. She sat and listened to the whole thing then asked to hear it again, this time asking questions and offering commentary. When Joe the Monkey eventually picks a charity at the end of the book--buying vines for underprivileged monkeys--Magda decided that she too would like a share jar and that she would use it to buy backpacks for kids who didn't have them. I'd been thinking of ways to introduce her to the concept of charity and this book did just that. Come back-to-school time, Magda and I can use her share money to donate school supplies to families in need. I'd say the book was a success!

Keep reading for images from inside the book, Magda's take and more...