The 10 Best Children Books About Money

Recently I was explaining to my first grader why we try to avoid using credit cards.  I told him the main reason was to not pay interest.

“Uh dad…..what’s interest?” he replied.

I fumbled through an explanation of what interest was, and realized it was very difficult to explain basic financial information to someone who didn’t have knowledge of basic terms.

I’ve found this list of children’s books that are a great resource for teaching children about basic financial principles such as the following examples:

Amelia Bedelia’s wild ideas to earn and save money for a bike she really wants.

The Berenstain Bears explain interest and banking to their children, using chickens 🙂

A young boy learns the difference between needs and wants with a new pair of shoes.

Many of these children books are from classic authors and have characters that you have probably already introduced to your kids.  I was really surprised how many of my kids favorite books involved financial teachings.  Here’s the list with links:

1) Amelia Bedelia Means Business by Herman Parish

2) The Berenstain Bears’ Trouble With Money by Stan & Jan Berenstain

3) The Berenstain Bears’ Dollars and Sense by Stan & Jan Berenstain

4) Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts

5) Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Silver Burdett

6) Little Critter: Just Saving My Money by Mercer Mayer

7) Lemonade in Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money by Emily Jenkins

8) One Cent, Two Cents, Old Cent, New Cent: All About Money (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library) by Bonnie Worth

9) Curious George Saves His Pennies by Margret & H.A. Reys

10) Give, Save, Spend With the Three Little Pigs by Clint Greenleaf

Happy Reading!