Spending Money

Spending Money is one of four books in Crabtree’s “All About Money” series. Each book begins in exactly the same way in terms of its opening two pages of text (see Excerpt above) with the exception of the last two lines which delineate that particular book’s purpose. Each book is a mixture of factual information, doled out in short chunks, and a simple storyline.

In the “All About Money” series, illustrator Beatriz Castro provides inclusive, cartoon-like artwork in which the content contained in the characters’ speech balloons links with the main text, usually by personalizing some aspect of the main text. In the spread following the opening pages, the main text reads:

After her grandfather died, Ava inherited some money. Her parents put most of it into a savings account . But they also gave Eva some money to spend.

Castro’s artwork shows the whole family, including their shaggy dog, sitting in the living room and having the following speech bubble conversation. Ava initiates by stating, “Wow, I’m rich!” and then asks, “What shall I buy?” Mom replies, “What would you like?”; Dad questions, “What do you need?” while Ava’s brother notes, “Having money means making choices.” Even the dog silently joins in, observing, “The butcher has a nice bone in his window, if you run out of ideas.”

The living room conversation establishes the storyline of Spending Money in which Ava, who happens to be seated in a wheelchair, must decide how to spend her money. At the core of the book is the exploration of the differences between needs and wants. As well, the book ventures into the area of online shopping (and its potential dangers and pitfalls) vs. supporting local businesses. Hubbard also introduces many of the terms connected with buying things, words like “on sale”, “discounts” and “shop around” (but not “comparison shopping” which is what Ava is largely doing).

The closing three pages in the books in the “All About Money” series consist of a five-question multiple choice “Quiz” page, a “Money Words” page that defines words that have been bolded in the text and a page of “Money facts” trivia. In Spending Money, one of the facts is that “An ATM (Automated Teller Machine) is where people can withdraw cash from their bank account using a card. The first one was used in London, England, in 1967.”

Via the storyline of Spending Money, Hubbard has presented his young audience with a real question that will be with them their entire lives. Are the bulk of my purchases real needs or just wants?