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It's tough to write a financial book that's both educational and entertaining. It's even tougher to write such a book for kids. The same goes for creating games, videos and computer software to teach children about money. The products below rise to the challenge without confusing kids -- or boring them.
In the games category, Mr. Bigshot comes up a winner ($24.95 for the board game, $19.95 for the CD-ROM; high schoolers; www.mrbigshot.com). Like the popular "You Don't Know Jack" trivia series, the computer version of this stock-picking game features snappy graphics and music, and a wisecracking announcer ("Hey, where'd your money go?"). Players can choose between two real companies -- disguised here as "Big" and "Shot" -- and follow their fortunes, deciding whether to hold or sell.
In a painless educational twist, Mr. Bigshot gives real data, such as price-earnings ratios, earnings per share, and ratings from Value Line and Moody's, for the two companies, whose identities are revealed after the round.
Bookshelf. The latest in the popular Fudge series by Judy Blume, Double Fudge (Dutton, $15.99; middle schoolers) features a financial subplot in which 5-year-old Fudge becomes obsessed with money. (For Halloween he dresses as a miser, in white shirt, red suspenders and a money tie bought at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.) Older brother Peter is disgusted, but Fudge's mom, to her credit, keeps her cool. Mom does wonder, however, how greed crept into the family. "We never talk about money in front of the children," she says. "Maybe that's the problem," says Peter.
Don't be deceived by what looks like a picture book. Stock Market Pie, by J.M. Seymour (DynaMinds Publishing, $19.95), is a good primer for middle schoolers. Ten-year-old Emily is disappointed when her grandmother gives her a stock certificate for her birthday, so Grandma uses a pie metaphor to explain the stock market ("Everyone can get a piece"). Short takes on the market -- how to spot a good company, how to buy a stock -- are sprinkled throughout the story, and there's even a glossary of investing terms.
In The Peanut Butter and Jelly Game, by Adam Eisenson (Good Advice Press, $14.95; elementary schoolers), Harry the Gorilla splurges on a baseball mitt, but then has to scavenge for a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich. The story offers a good lesson in wants versus needs, with a touch of consumerism thrown in (Harry returns the mitt for a refund).
On-screen. "Nothing in life is free" concludes the main character in the video A High Price to Pay ($9.98; elementary schoolers; www.peterpan.com). Teddy assumes that rich kid Jeff gets all his neat stuff from his parents. Turns out that Jeff works all weekend to earn money to buy his own stuff.
With Family Bank ($49.95; middle and high schoolers; www.parentware.org), a software program that's a kind of Quicken for kids, you open an account into which you can credit a child's allowance and pay interest on the balance. When kids want real money out of the account, they print out a check that you cash.
--Contributor: Glen Mayers
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