Top 10 Finance Books for Children
Introduction
Children grow up fast.
You want them to be prepared for life’s hard decisions when they are prepared to take on the world themselves. That’s why, in this blog, we showcase the top 10 finance books for children that every parent and teacher should share with their little ones to get a head start in life.
Children have a lot to learn, but they have the benefit of time on their side (and an astounding amount of energy!).
However, in most cases, they’re not equipped with financial skills and knowledge early enough. In some cases, they are left to discover and maneuver even the most common financial issues on their own.
Due to their busy lives, parents don’t have ample time to discuss financial matters with their children.
Why Financial Literacy Is Important
A recent survey shows that it’s just 23% of kids who participated in the survey indicated to have frequent conversations with their parents about money.
According to another recent study, low financial literacy among adults and children has been identified as the key contributor to negative credit behaviors like high-cost borrowing and mortgage delinquency. As such, financial literacy is an integral component of raising children and a generation with a self-drive to unlock their full potential.
At WazzCards, we have made it our mission to help raise awareness and use our voice to showcase the importance of good financial education for children starting at an earlier.
Whether you are a parent, a guardian, or a teacher entrusted with the financial literacy development of a child, you have a responsibility to ensure that you’re empowering with financial knowledge as early as possible.
Related: Introducing the concepts of savings to children
Related: 10 Best FREE virtual classrooms for teachers
On that note, here are some of the top finance books for children that you can consider buying for the child/children:
Book Recommendation #1:
Little Critter: Just Saving My Money
Reading age: 4-8 years
Grades: Pre-K to Grade 3
Image Source: Amazon.com
Authored by Mercer Mayer, ‘Just Saving My Money’ is a 32-page finance book that has been written with a four to eight-year-old kid in mind.
The story of Little Critter, who works hard for his money, is narrated in simple English with child-friendly visuals to arouse creativity in the targeted reader.
Just like its other sister Little Critter books, this book is not only informative but also entertaining. It draws its inspiration from the author’s childhood adventures, especially in matters related to saving and money discipline.
Book Recommendation #2:
Reading age: 12+ years
Grades: Grade 4+
Image Source: Amazon.com Book Cover
‘Heads Up Money’ is an English, 160-page book that answers various key and popular finance questions among children.
As a parent or custodian of a child, you will no longer struggle to answer questions like “Can I buy happiness if I become wealthy?” or “Can we get rich if our bank prints more money?” from your child.
This book answers such questions comprehensively.
Besides, the book gives crucial child-friendly insights on more complex topics such as market trends, investment as well as supply and demand. Designed for grade 4 to grade 12 students, it is suitable for a teenager who’s about to start paying their bills in a few years to come.
Book Recommendation #3
Reading age: 5-12 years
Grades: Grade 1-6 years
Image Source: Book Cover On Amazon
This 26-page compilation by a reputable author Kenneth E. Johnson Jr. uses super-creative illustration and catchy text content to teach financial lessons that stick in a child’s mind forever.
The lessons are mainly about savings, investments, and the importance of prudent money choices. It is suitable for children aged between five to 12 years.
Book Recommendation #4
Reading age: 4-8 years
Grades: Pre-K to Grade 2
Image Source: Book Cover On Amazon
Every kid aspires to be a millionaire in their future life. “If You Made a Million” David M. Schwartz makes the aspiration look near-real instead of just a mere fantasy. The author’s simple language and proper choice of words, coupled with captivating and memorable illustrations by Steven Kellogg, charmingly explain the basics of money. The 40-page book features fun money facts, including how to earn money, how to invest and earn interest or dividends. It also touches on income tax and bank financial operations, including checking accounts, loans, and compound interest. “If You Made a Million” is appropriate for ages four to eight.
Book Recommendation #5
Reading age: 2-5 years
Grades: Pre-K to Grade 1
Image Source: Book Cover On Amazon
Money, Honey Bunny by Marilyn Sadler is an outstanding tool for teaching your two to five-year-old child about saving and spending. It informs a child about the freedom they have when it comes to spending money, with an option to save, spend or share. Through the experiences of Honey Bunny Funny bunny, the main character in the book, the reader gets to understand the possible outcome of every money choice they make. The rhyming words work with picture clues to help the child decipher the content effortlessly.
Book Recommendation #6
Rock, Brock, And the Savings Shock
Reading age: 4-8 years
Grades: Pre-K to Grade 3
Image Source: Book Cover On Amazon
In ‘Rock, Brock, And the Savings Shock’ Rock and Brock are twin brothers who differ sharply in matters of money spending and saving.
The book highlights the wise financial habits of Brock, who managed to save $512 in 10 weeks, while his brother was a spendthrift with not even a single coin to save. The book has bright cartoon illustrations to depict Rock’s behaviors comically.
However, Rock changed his ways and became a better saver, and ultimately became a millionaire just like his brother, Brock. This 32-page picture book helps a four to eight-year-old child examine the concept of saving versus spending in a witty way.
Book Recommendation #7
The Everything Kids’ Money Book: Earn it, save it, and watch it grow!
Reading age: 7-9 years
Grades: Grade 3 to Grade 5
Image Source: Book Cover On Amazon
This colourful book is designed to help a seven to 12-year-old gain a fairly in-depth understanding of the value of money. The author, Brette Sember, has included content highlighting everything that the child needs to know about the earning opportunities they have in their childhood and how to spend their earnings wisely.
This is among the few children’s finance books with content on online banking. Your child will also learn how to open a bank account and save for future projects on their way to becoming financially responsible adults.
Book Recommendation #8
Reading age: 4-7 years
Grades: Pre-K to Grade 3
Image Source: Book Cover On Amazon
Written by a renowned author, Tololwa M Nollel, My Rows and Piles of Coins comprises 32 pages of content to educate a four to seven-year-old on the importance of saving.
It features a story of Saruni, a boy who was worked hard to save enough money for a bike and a cart to help his parent. The content is designed to teach a child the patience of saving money over a long period so as to meet the desired goal.
Book Recommendation #9
Reading age: 4-11years
Grades: Pre-K to Grade 6
Image Source: Book Cover On Amazon
Money Ninja is part of Ninja Life Hacks, a book series designed to teach children valuable life skills. This book, in particular, is designed to help children aged between 3 to 11 years learn the fundamentals of saving, investing, and donating.
The cute and colourful illustrations featuring adorable characters in the 27-page comedic book inspire the reader to explore opportunities that can make money can work for them instead of just spending it.
Book Recommendation #10:
How to Turn $100 into $1,000,000: Earn! Save! Invest!
Reading age: 9+ years old
Grades: Grades 4 to 7
Image Source: Book Cover From Amazon
This is another great book from which a child can learn the best practices of earning, saving, and investing money. It shares incredible tips and lessons on scoring the first job, starting a business, starting a successful business, and investing smartly.
Additionally, it includes a well-thought one-page business plan template, as well as a two-page plan that’s specifically designed to guide the young reader on what to do to increase their chances of becoming a millionaire.
A budget tracker is deliberately included to help the young, aspiring millionaires stay on top of their budget.
Closing Thoughts…
If you want to see a child or student become a financially responsible adult, you should ensure that they develop the right behaviour and mindset as early as possible.
Get the child any one of the above books, and help them on their journey to become more confident, knowledgeable and ultimately see a significant positive transformation in the way they’ll be dealing with finances going forward.
Looking to continue growing your financial education journey? Then do try our FREE app and reinforce the concepts from these books in real-world mathematical scenarios. Sign-in, choose a deck (there are multiple decks to choose in subjects such as history, civics, science, mathematics, and financial literacy) by grade levels. Add students or enjoy going through the problems prepared to help you or your little one become more financially literate!
And finally, we want to hear from you!
Do you have other books in mind that we did not cover? Or have different opinions on the ones we covered? Let us know in the comment section and we would love to hear your thoughts!
Happy reading!
