It’s never too early to teach your kids about money and books are a great way for them to learn at their own pace. But with so many money books out there aimed at kids, it can be tricky to work out which are the best ones for the job.
To help you narrow it down, here are our top picks. Whether it’s through exciting adventures, entertaining stories, or ‘how-to guides’, all these books teach your kids financial literacy in fun, engaging ways. You’ll find something suitable for any age group too, from kindergarten through high school.
Benefits of reading children’s books about money
Books are windows to new worlds. For young children, the world of finance may be new while for older kids it may be something they find hard to grasp. But as financial literacy is still not on all school curriculum, books won’t just teach your kids about money. They open the door to talking about it in a healthy way.
Best money books for kids: our picks
Here are our picks for the best money books for kids from kindergarten through high school. We’ve listed them in age-appropriate categories. But as children’s reading levels vary, you may find there’s some crossover.
3-7-year-olds
A boy, a budget and a dream, Jasmine Paul.
Kass saves her allowance each week. Her brother Joey spends most of his. When he realizes he hasn’t saved enough money to buy something he really wants, Joey must either learn to budget or give up on his dream.
A Boy, a Budget and a Dream helps teach financial literacy and money management skills to kids aged 4-8 in a fun, easy-to-understand way.
Jasmine Paul is a certified financial education instructor, money wellness leader and financial professional. She’s also the author of The Wealth Playground Workbook. An activity book created with the help of curriculum developers, there are over 40 pages of activities designed to help kids learn financial literacy.
Money Plan, Monica Eaton
A rhyming picture book, Money Plan is a clever approach to teaching 4-7-year-olds about saving, budgeting and working hard. When Mia goes with her mom to the grocery store and spots her favorite treat, she gets her first lesson in money management.
Monica Eaton is a certified financial education instructor and a financial counselor who helps parents and children have healthy money conversations.
If you made a million, David M Schwartz
David Schwartz has a knack for getting kids to think and have fun at the same time. In this book, aimed at 4-8-year-olds, Marveloisissimo, the Mathematical Magician explains the nuts and bolts of earning money, investing it and watching your savings grow.
If you made a million is a little dated now—it explains how checks work but doesn’t touch on electronic payments. But it’s a great way to teach kids about money along with multiplication and manages to make the topic fun. The ‘jobs’ you can do to earn money, for example, include babysitting a giant’s baby.
The Wisest Investment: Teaching Your Kids to Be Responsible, Independent and Money-Smart for Life by Robin Taub
The Wisest Investment written by award-winning Canadian author and Chartered Professional Account Robin Taub gives you a roadmap for teaching your kids about money.Whatever their age (from young kids to emerging adults) the examples, actions and guidelines show you how to teach your kids about earning, spending, saving and investing.
Related: GoHenry money guide: financial education for 5-7-year-olds.
7-11 year-olds
Rock, Brock and the savings shock, Sheila Bair
Rock and Brock are twins, but they’re ‘different as ball and block’. One summer their Grandpa offers to give them a dollar every Saturday. Every dollar they save, he says he’ll match. Spend it, on the other hand, and there’s no extra dough.
Brock spends his and ends up with nothing. Rock saves his money and by the summer’s end has $512. When Brock realizes his mistake, his twin shows him it’s never too late to start saving. Filled with fun illustrations and creative rhymes, Rock, Brock and the Savings shock is aimed at 4-9-year-olds. Its last pages explain how compounding works.
Sheila Bair is the former Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Before that, she worked at the US Department of the Treasury and the New York Stock Exchange.
Investing for Kids: How to save, invest and grow money, by husband and wife duo, Dylin Redling and Allison Tom
Aimed at 8-12-year-olds, Investing for Kids shows them how to start a savings plan and the best ways to invest. With help from dollar duo, Mr Finance and Investing Woman, children learn all about stocks and bonds, risk and reward and how to diversify their portfolio.
A bestseller, the book’s packed with real-life examples kids can relate to and fun facts about famous investors. It’s a useful refresher for adults and parents can get involved in the interactive activities too.
Husband and wife team Dylin Redling and Allison Tom launched RetireBy45.com in 2016 after discovering the FIRE movement (Financial Independence Retiring Early).
Why Money Matters, Deborah Meaden
Coming soon, in July 2023, Why Money Matters de-mystifies money for 6-9-year-olds. It’s packed with easily-digestible information on everything from the history of money and how to make it grow, to how banks and card payments work. There’s even a useful glossary.
Beautifully illuminated with vibrant, eye-catching illustrations by Hao Hao, the text is peppered with fascinating, financial nuggets. Did you know, for example, that if all the credit cards in the world were laid end to end, they would go around the world three and a half times? There are challenges your kids can do too, to help them put what they’ve learned into practice.
Deborah Meaden is a highly-successful entrepreneur. An investor on the UK TV series, Dragon’s Den, she also hosts BBC Radio 5 Live’s The Big Green Money.
The Lemonade War, Jacqueline Davies
For ages 7-10, The Lemonade War blends humor, math wizardry and business know-how. With only five days of summer vacation left, siblings Evan and Jessie launch a war to see who can sell the most lemonade before school starts.
The first in a series of six books, The Lemonade War defines economic concepts, provides marketing advice, tips on how to run your own lemonade business, charts, diagrams, math problems and more.
Visit author Jacqueline Davies’ website for teachers’ guides, reviews and trailers for her books.
The Everything Kids’ Money Book: Earn it, save it, and watch it grow! Brette Sember
The Everything Kids’ Money Book is for today’s kids who are investing money, starting their own business and watching their savings grow. The latest edition has been updated. You’ll find extra, useful material in it on online banking, opening a bank account and saving your allowance.
Aimed at children between the ages of 7 and 12, parents say it’s a little young for 12-year-olds. However, they also report learning a lot about personal finance they didn’t know themselves.
Former attorney Brette Sember is the author of over 40 books and co-author of several textbooks.
Related: GoHenry money guide: financial education for 7-11 year olds.
11-14 year-olds
How to Turn $100 into $1,000,000, James McKenna
The ‘ultimate kids’ guide to money’, James McKenna’s book is for 10-12-year-olds who want to be millionaires, launch a business, or just save up for a new bike. It’s an in-depth, thorough introduction to finance.
As well as explaining how to set financial goals, budget, invest wisely and start a business, there’s a business plan template and budget tracker. Plus, a two-page, step-by-step plan to becoming a millionaire.
How to turn $100 into $1,000,000 is from the creators of BizKid$ and Bill Nye, the Science Guy.
Finance 101 for Kids: Money lessons children cannot afford to miss, Walter Andal
When father of four Walter Andal couldn’t find a book for 8-12 year-olds that applied the concept of finance to real-life situations, he wrote his own. Finance 101 explains how money started, explores the dangers of mishandling credit, and teaches kids about the stock market as well as currency and foreign exchange.
The book provides great talking points for parents with their children too. Like discussing economic forces that can affect personal finance and the importance of giving back to the community.
Andal’s sequel, Finance 102, is also worth a read. It explains how to apply what children learned in Finance 101 to real-life situations. Such as how to resist unhealthy media and social influence, and how to protect your money, property and reputation.
Walter Andal has over 25 years of experience in the financial industry. As well as an MBA in International Finance he holds a bachelor’s degree in Management Economics.
How to Money, Jean Chatzky, Kathryn Tuggle (12-18)
This illustrated How to Money guide breaks down the basics of money. How to earn it, manage it and use it. It teaches teens how to create a budget (and stick to it), get a job and understand their paycheck. They’ll also learn how to navigate student loans (and avoid student debt) as well as how to invest like a pro.
Best-selling author Jean Chatsky is a financial expert and host of the HerMoney podcast. Kathryn Tuggle is the Gracie-Award-winning Editor in Chief at HerMoney.com and produces the HerMoney podcast.
Related: GoHenry money guide: financial education for 11-14 year olds.
14-16 year-olds
I Want More Pizza: Real world money skills for high school, college and beyond, Steve Burkholder
Perfect for the classroom or a graduation gift, I want more pizza uses the pizza model to teach teens money management. Topics covered include saving, spending, prioritization, goal setting, compounding, debt, credit cards and student loans.
The pizza model breaks down barriers to learning personal finance because, Burkholder says, “everyone loves pizza”. And just because money management is important it doesn’t mean it has to be complex.
If your teen doesn’t enjoy math or doesn’t like to plan, the book provides the tools to find a plan that’ll work for them. It’s only 110 pages long, too. So your teen will have plenty of time left over for their busy social calendar!
Steve Burkholder says that while his name is on the book as author, it took about 65 talented individuals to create it. Including other finance professionals, high school teachers and students as well as educational experts
Get a Financial Life, Beth Kobliner
Designed to guide younger adults through the world of personal finance, Get a Financial Life is great for older teens too. Dubbed a financial bible, Beth Kobliner’s book teaches young people how to get out of debt, learn to save, and invest for their futures. It also tackles taxes, how to fix credit scores and avoid making money mistakes.
Does the thought of reading an entire book on personal finance induce eye-rolling and yawns in your teen? Chapter 1 is the ‘Crib Notes’ version of what they need to know and the last chapter acts as a financial crammer. Although as Kobliner says, “it’s a little like relying on the SparkNotes version of Hamlet. You’ll get the basic plotline but never understand what all the fuss is about”.
Beth Kobliner is a personal finance commentator and journalist. Appointed by President Obama to the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability, she spearheaded the national, “Money as you Grow” campaign.
Show Me the Money, Big questions about finance, Alvin Hall
If you’re looking for a jargon-busting book that teaches your teens about economics, this is the one. It tackles a notoriously dry subject and manages to make it interesting and relevant to today’s young people.
There are sections on economics, business, personal finance and the history of trade. But the text is broken up with diagrams, Lego-like illustrations and colorful cartoons to make it engaging. It also addresses topic questions, such as ethics, free trade, fair trade, debt in the developing world and sustainable business practices.
Not just a handy guide for ‘tomorrow’s little acquirers,’ according to the Wall Street Journal “its reminders could help a few adults, too”.
Alvin Hall is a financial educator, broadcaster and author with a knack for translating complex financial topics into simpler, easily grasped concepts. He spent five years on BBC’s Your Money or Your Life and now regularly contributes to NPR’s Tell Me More. He is also a member of the NYSE Euronext Financial Literacy Advisory Committee.
Get Good With Money, Tiffany Aliche
Author Tiffany Aliche, aka "The Budgetnista," is an award-winning financial educator who has transformed the lives of over one million women worldwide. She regularly appears as a financial expert on The Real daytime talk show, and co-hosts a top-ranked financial podcast, Brown Ambition. Get Good With Money is great for any teen wanting to get clear on their finances. It’s an easily digestible, proven, tick list of actions to get you financially sound.
Broke Millennial, Erin Lowry
The Broke Millennial series may be aimed at cash-strapped millennials but the books are just as useful for older teens. Unlike most personal finance books out there, financial expert Erin Lowry goes beyond the basics.
Through hilarious anecdotes and some straight-talking advice, she tackles tricky money matters and situations most people face in real life.
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How to manage student loans without having a full-on panic attack
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What to do when you’re out with friends and can’t afford to split the bill evenly
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Understanding your relationship with money (Tinder date/marriage material).
Erin Lowry created Broke Millennial to help people get their financial life together. “It doesn’t need to be terrifying”, she says, “it just needs to get done”.
Related: GoHenry money guide: financial education for 14-16-year-olds
Teach your kids about money with GoHenry
Books are great for explaining how money works. But kids learn best by doing. So how about teaching them how to manage money for themselves with a GoHenry prepaid debit card?
Available for kids aged 6-18, GoHenry is a safe way for them to learn financial independence. Because it’s a prepaid debit card, there’s no danger of them over-spending and getting into debt. Plus, it comes with a companion app for parents. You can pay in their allowance, monitor their spending, top up when necessary and set limits too.
Through Money Missions, our in-app financial education tool, your kids can explore topics from budgeting to saving, investing and more. In fun, bite-sized interactive games and quizzes designed to accelerate your child’s financial literacy.
