Primary Reading (K-2) Economics

* Book is located in the University of Delaware Library
* Book is located in the Education Resource Center (ERC)

Economics in Children's Literature Grades: K-2 | 3-4 | 5-6 | Literature Index
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Title	Author	Theme(s)	Summary
A Birthday for Frances	Russell Hoban	Barter	This story discusses why people trade or barter for things.
A Country Far Away*	Nigel Gray & Philippe Dupasquier	Consumers	Two boys consume different things; one boy lives in a village in Africa, while the other boy lives in a Western nation.
A Kid's Guide to Managing Money	Joy Wilt	Managing money	This book teaches children how to manage money once they have earned it.
A New Coat for Anna*	Harriet Ziesert	Barter	During WWII, a woman trades her valuables for materials she needs to make a coat for her daughter.
Alexander Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday*	Judith Viorst	Opportunity cost	Alexander is forced to deal with the consequences of his actions.
Bananas from Manolo to Margie	George Ancona	Workers/producers, consumers, specialization	The production of bananas in Honduras requires many specialized workers. This book looks at the producers and consumers of bananas.
Bunny Money*	MaryAnn Wells	Saving, spending, decision-making
Fire Fighters	Ray Broekel	Workers/producers, services, specialization	Men and women must go through specialized training programs to become fire fighters because people depend on them in emergencies.
From Seed to Salad	Hannah Lyons Johnson	Interdependence	Children work together to plant, cultivate, and harvest a garden.
"Helping" and "Bang-Klang" in Where the Sidewalk Ends**	Shel Silverstein	Interdependence, workers/producers	These two poems explore different situations in which people must help/rely on others.
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World**	Marjorie Priceman	Interdependence
Hunches in Bunches	Dr. Seuss	Choices	A young boy is faced by several different options and struggles to make a decision about how to spend his time.
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie*	Laura Joffe Numeroff	Wants	The little mouse in this story has many wants that soon lead him to desire other things.
In a People House	Theo LeSieg	Goods	Uninvited guests, a bird and a mouse, take a tour of a family's house and discover an array of goods.
In My Town	Richard Scarry	Interdependence	The author explains why goods, services, and specialization of workers are all needed to make a town run smoothly.
Little Pig's Tale	Nijel Gray	Choices	The main character must decide on what to buy his mother for her birthday.
"Magic Carpet" in A Light in the Attic**	Shel Silverstein	Choices	This poem examines the many possible uses of a flying carpet.
Making Up Your Own Mind	Joy Wilt	Decisions and tradeoffs	This book teaches children how to make decisions involving money and borrowing.
"Ourchestra," "Pancakes?," "Hector the Collector," "Point of View," "Poor Angus," & "Afraid of the Dark" in Where the Sidewalk Ends**	Shel Silverstein	Productive re-use, realistic vs. unrealistic needs, different people have different wants and opinions	The author uses different poems to teach children lessons about wants and needs.
People Who Help People	Jane Belk Moncure	Interdependence	Family members and community work together to help one another on a daily basis.
People Working	Douglas Florian	Workers/producers	This books contains numerous illustrations of people working on land, sea, and air, at all times of the day.
Pigs Will Be Pigs*	Amy Axelrod	Money	A family of pigs needs to eat, but they do not have enough money. The pigs look for money, figure out what it will buy, and go to a restaurant.
"Play Ball" in A Light in the Attic**	Shel Silverstein	Interdependence	This poem explains that children must work together to play baseball.
Richard Scarry's Busiest People Ever and Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day	Richard Scarry	Workers/ producers	Both of these books examine a wide variety of people and the work they do.
Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day	Richard Scarry	Specialization and interdependence	This book looks at a wide variety of occupations.
Round and Round the Money Goes	Melvin and Gilda Berger	Money	This book explains the development of money from its origins to modern usage as cash, checks, and credit cards.
Saturday Sancocho*	Leyla Torres	Barter
Talking with Artists**	Pat Cummings, ed.	Workers/producers	A group of illustrators discuss how and why they became artists for children's books and include examples of their work from both their childhood and adult experiences.
The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmes	Stan & Jan Berenstain	Wants	Brother and Sister Bear learn they cannot have everything they want.
The Goat in the Rug**	Charles L. Blood & Martin Link	Workers/producers, natural, human, and capital resources	This book about a Navajo weaver and her goat provides a step-by-step description of rug making and allows students an opportunity to distinguish between the different types of resources.
The Hundred Penny Box**	Sharon Bell Mathis	Value of money	Michael's relative uses her collection of pennies to teach him about life during the Depression.
The Mitten*	Jan Britt	Scarcity	In this story several woodland creatures try to make a mitten into their new home. However, as more and more animals discover the cozy hideaway space becomes very limited.
The Money Tree	Sarah Stewart	Value of money	A woman grows a money tree in her yard and must deal with the people who want to pick the money tree's leaves.
The "Painter" in A Light in the Attic**	Shel Silverstein	Workers/producers	This poem describes the work of a painter.
The Popcorn Book*	Tomie dePaola	Workers/producers, resources	This book discusses the history of producing and preparing popcorn; the author also includes several recipes.
The Story of Money	Ed Steinberg	Value of money	This comic book discusses and illustrates forms of money, its origins and value, and explains why money plays an important role in societies throughout the world.
Tony's Bread	Tomie dePaola	Workers/producers	An Italian baker named Tony makes a loaf of bread.
Tops and Bottoms	Janet Stevens	Entrepreneurship, venture capitalism, investment, competition	This book is a sequel to Aesop's "Hare and the Tortoise". The economic lessons in the story are based upon Hare being down on his luck and finding a way to support his family.
Understanding Money	Carol and James Barkin	Spending, saving, value of money	The author compares the purchasing power of money throughout the world and looks at how savings accounts work.
"Us" in Where the Sidewalk Ends	Shel Silverstein	Choices	In this poem a person has a difficult time making a choice.
What Will I be? A Wish Book	Kathleen Krull Cowles	Workers/producers	The children in this story imagine what their future jobs will be like.
Where Does This Come From? Bubble Gum	H.I. Peeples	Workers/producers, resources	This book looks at the origin of bubble gum and discusses the means of production.

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