Spend It!

PreS-Gr 1-In this financial follow-up to Earn It!, Sonny earns three carrots every Saturday for his allowance. Sonny declares that he wants "to buy EVERYTHING," which includes a toy rocket, a pogo stick, and a bouncy castle. Sonny's mom is quick to point out that bunnies can't buy everything with three carrots, and that he is going to have to choose: "Making a choice helps you see what's really important to you." His mom explains how much each item costs, and reasons that Sonny already has "lots of toys." Ultimately, Sonny excitedly decides to buy the pogo stick for three carrots. The text is presented in a childlike, penciled handwriting, and the bright, energetic illustrations convey the action and add to the sense of story and character. VERDICT A welcome story about smart spending. Recommended for purchase for large picture book collections.-Brianne Colombo, Fairfield Free Public Library, NJ

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

"McLeod's Moneybunny series aims to teach young readers 'a few simple facts about money.' In this volume, the focus is on making choices about what to buy. . . . Sonny gets to thinking how to spend his carrots, and a supercritical lesson is learned: consider how and what you spend your money on. The lesson goes down smoothly because it presents options for ways to satisfy the urge to spend—it also helps that Sonny is cute as a you-know-what. Financial planning never looked so good."—Kirkus Reviews

"The text is presented in a childlike, penciled handwriting, and the bright, energetic illustrations convey the action and add to the sense of story and character. A welcome story about smart spending."—School Library Journal