Customer Reviews

Money Madness

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People want money, but why? At first glance, currency around the world is simply paper with nice pictures printed on the front and back, but life would be more difficult if people did not use money. People would have to be much more self-sufficient, either producing life's necessities themselves or bartering with others for the commodities they need in their daily lives. Long ago, people used items such as rocks and livestock as a form of money, but rocks got heavy and the livestock could run away. Coins made of precious metals were a big improvement, but carrying many coins also proved burdensome. The creation of paper money helped people not only to buy and sell goods and services, but also to provide a common measure of the value of these items.

With its brisk text and eye-catching illustrations, this informative book is sure to appeal to younger children as they learn to navigate the economic world around them. When households around the world are talking about financial instability and economic security, this book comes as a welcome means for teaching children about the fundamentals of money and exchange.

There are at least 10 books that cover this information about money -- how a barter economy works, the development of currency, how money circulates through the economy, and specifics about US currency. This book has a memorable section on the impracticalities of barter economies, and an interesting table on currency exchange rates.

More books on this topic (or very similar):

"Round and Round the Money Goes" -- Melvin and Gilda Berger
"Money Madness" - David A. Adler
"What is Money?" -- Mary Firestone
"The Go-Around Dollar" -- Barbara Johnston Adams
"Follow the Money" -- Loreen Leedy

Choose the one with the illustrations you prefer.

Forthright text and pictures make the basics of money easy to grasp. A good book for early-and-middle elementary students, and a real draw for the home schooling parent.

And to think, he also writes Cam Jansen! :-) Impressive.