Pretty Penny Sets Up Shop

“The options for finding additional — or any — income can be difficult whether you are 6 or 66. But, of course, Penny figures out a way. (If you have ever held a garage sale or sold some superfluous items on eBay, you’ll instantly understand the solution.) And the takeaway message that even 6-year-olds will understand is that if you want something — like having a birthday party for Grandma — you need to figure out a way to pay the bill.” – The New York Times

“Kinch provides readers with plenty of chat about money and where it comes from (‘Bunny owns this yellow building from top to bottom. She… rents out three tidy apartments to neighbors’), polished spreads that include spots crammed with hats, shoes, and other consumer treats; and the occasional moral lesson (‘This is not my money–it belongs to Bunny’). This is an honest acknowledgment of the centrality of money in the lives of many young girls, and an attempt to tame and direct it.” – Publishers Weekly

“To my surprise, my daughter has asked me to read Pretty Penny to her every night for the past two weeks. At first we just talked about the book’s cute pets — a lazy pig named Iggy and a sneaky cat Bo — but then one evening it dawned on my little girl that this story is about a rummage sale. Completely out of the blue, my daughter wanted to know how to read price tags and why some items at a store cost more than others. She even asked how to count coins and bills, something I‘ve been trying to explain to her for ages. It turns out that the discussion we had is exactly what Devon Kinch, the author, was trying to accomplish with her tale…A good conversation starter for mothers and fathers who are having trouble finding a way to engage their kids in financial lessons.” – Family Finance (CBS Moneywatch blog)