Youngsters gain an understanding of money and the cost of living from this book. Each example shows the breakdown cost of production and who makes or spends the money. The layout breaks down information so that readers enjoy pertinent artwork, text, and the details of the math involved for that product. It also includes comparisons of why you might choose one type of the product over another. Financial concepts such as taxes, loss leader, minimum wage, and pecuniary penalties are explained. The book supports the National Council for Social Studies and Common Core Math Standards. Readers are pointed to other sources that will provide additional facts.
Library Media Connection - Marge Cox
This book is fantastic!... A definite plus for a finance class but a solid addition to any library
Novel Nutritious - Jennifer Szoch
Kevin Sylvester and Michael Hlinka do a great job of explaining basic economic concepts.
goodreads.com - Suzanne Costner
Presented in an easy to follow format, Follow Your Money is an informative overview of where your money goes. Highly recommended.
CM Vol XX No 12 - Daphne Hamilton-Nagorsen
Using examples that are relevant to kids, Follow Your Money explains who gets what when you buy pizza, movie tickets, CDs, clothes, and other goods... helping kids make informed financial decisions... Sylvester and Hlinka have written a wonderful, easy to read book to help consumers of all ages understand the business of money... With so many kids marketing to our children, it's important for parents to help their children become savvy shoppers... Very informative and perfect for parents and sharing with tweens and teens to help them better spend their hard earned cash.
Three Boys and an Old Lady blog
I admire the way the authors managed to write in light entertaining prose while at the same time educating kids about the bottom line of earning, spending, saving... With this book, your kids can start to appreciate how hard you had to work to get them that cellphone.
Good Reads with Ronna - Debbie Glade
The authors of this collection of 27 two-page chapters show some of the complexities of the modern world. They have selected common items that are meaningful to young people, such as movies, computers, cell phones, blue jeans and baseball caps, etc. and show what they cost to manufacture and the common price to the consumer. For some items, these show little profit for the retailer, but for some the store profit margin is significant. This book has cartoon style illustrations throughout. A Table of Contents, additional sources and an Index make this much more than a browser... Sylvester and Hlinka...have written a book about a very complex subject and made it accessible and entertaining.
Resource Links, Vol. 18, No. 5 - Mavis Holder
Kevin Sylvester and Michael Hlinka, both of Toronto, offer an eye-opening look at the route it follows when used to buy everything from raw materials and salaries, to transportation, packaging and advertising.
Waterloo Region Record - Brenda Hoerle
The book provides young people with a good introduction to the way money flows from creator to distributor to retailer to customer.
Canadian Children's Book News - Sandra O'Brien
This guide for middle-grade readers matches white space, narrative, and financial breakdowns in an appealing guide. Highly recommended.
netgalley.com - Kristin Fontichiaro
12/01/2013
Ka-ching! The sound says it all, but it is only the end of a long journey, as Sylvester and Hlinka explain. You buy a baseball hat. Easy enough: You mowed the neighbor's lawn, they gave you $5, and you gave that $5 to the store for the hat. But there is a lot more going on behind the scenes--the harvesting of the cotton for the hat, its construction (domestic, foreign), the cost of getting it to market, advertising, storage, etc. It's a web of economic connections that Sylvester and Hlinka spell out with clarity in this primer on how your money gets divvied when you slap down that fiver. For any kid paying attention, this book will be a shocker. Sylvester and Hlinka build from fundamentals: What is value and worth, what is a salary (from the Latin for salt, when wages were paid in salt), what are costs, what is that thing called tax, and what does it buy? Sylvester and Hlinka are not out to overthrow capitalism, but simply by explaining how a credit card works or why energy companies make a dollar on seemingly every transaction, they spur readers to wonder about transparency and the ownership of natural resources. Knowing why something costs so much might make you appreciate it, and the people who get it to you, more--and, perhaps, to act on that knowledge. (Nonfiction. 10-14)
