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Math Is CATegorical ®
A Dollar, a Penny, How Much and How Many?
In this funny look at money, Brian P. Cleary and Brian Gable explain the basics of bills and coins. The comical cats of the wildly popular Words Are CATegorical® series show young readers how to count and combine pennies, nickels, fives, tens, and more. Peppy rhymes, goofy illustrations, and kid-friendly examples take the mystery out of money.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
14 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 31, 2013
Have you all heard about the Common Core yet? Well, it is starting to become more and more important in my area and in my library. What does that mean for me as a librarian? I need to be on the lookout for good nonfiction books that read like a fiction book–in a good narrative style. Because these are the type of books that school kids are increasingly needing for their class work.
This book is a nonfiction book about a nonfiction topic, but it reads like a picture book. So it fits perfectly with the Common Core idea for narrative nonfiction. Which is perfect when I need to start recommending these type of books instead of/along with AR books.
I like how it is a nice rhyme that talks about money, the value of it, what it can do, etc. Like it very much. And it is written in such a way that younger kids will get what it is talking about.
This book is a nonfiction book about a nonfiction topic, but it reads like a picture book. So it fits perfectly with the Common Core idea for narrative nonfiction. Which is perfect when I need to start recommending these type of books instead of/along with AR books.
I like how it is a nice rhyme that talks about money, the value of it, what it can do, etc. Like it very much. And it is written in such a way that younger kids will get what it is talking about.
May 3, 2017
Text: 4 stars
Illustrations: 4 stars
Useful explanation of money. Includes both coins and bills. Explains equivalent values for $20, and various coin combinations that add up to a dollar. Also mentions what you can do with money. Rhyming text and cartoonish illustrations make learning fun and will entice kids back for repeat readings. Part of the Math is CATegorical series.
Illustrations: 4 stars
Useful explanation of money. Includes both coins and bills. Explains equivalent values for $20, and various coin combinations that add up to a dollar. Also mentions what you can do with money. Rhyming text and cartoonish illustrations make learning fun and will entice kids back for repeat readings. Part of the Math is CATegorical series.
March 20, 2020
Title: A Dollar, A Penny, How Much, How Many?
Author: Brian P. Cleary
How would you describe the plot?
How would you describe the characters?
While the book lists a couple of character names, it does not describe them. It says things like, “Jenny brought 4 quarters.” But each character looks like a cat type animal.
What is the main conflict?
I don’t think that there is a main conflict throughout this book. It is helping kids learn about the different forms of money.
What is the main theme?
Money is the main theme. The forms and amounts that each type has.
How would you describe the author’s style?
Poetic and fun
What point of view does the author use?
Third-person
Share your thoughts on the design and layout of the book.
I like the design of the book. The illustrations cover the entire page and are colorful. Even though they cover the entire page, it is easy to differentiate between the text and the images.
What lessons could you teach with this text? Please provide at least two of the Arkansas State Standards you would use in a lesson.
1.MD.B.4- Identify and know the value of a penny, nickel, dime and quarter
1.MD.B.5- Count collections of like coins (pennies, nickels, and dimes).
What is your overall assessment of the book?
This book is easy to follow and can make teaching children about money fun. It talks about all the forms of money and the ways that it can be used and combined in various ways. This will be a book I get for my classroom one day!
Author: Brian P. Cleary
How would you describe the plot?
How would you describe the characters?
While the book lists a couple of character names, it does not describe them. It says things like, “Jenny brought 4 quarters.” But each character looks like a cat type animal.
What is the main conflict?
I don’t think that there is a main conflict throughout this book. It is helping kids learn about the different forms of money.
What is the main theme?
Money is the main theme. The forms and amounts that each type has.
How would you describe the author’s style?
Poetic and fun
What point of view does the author use?
Third-person
Share your thoughts on the design and layout of the book.
I like the design of the book. The illustrations cover the entire page and are colorful. Even though they cover the entire page, it is easy to differentiate between the text and the images.
What lessons could you teach with this text? Please provide at least two of the Arkansas State Standards you would use in a lesson.
1.MD.B.4- Identify and know the value of a penny, nickel, dime and quarter
1.MD.B.5- Count collections of like coins (pennies, nickels, and dimes).
What is your overall assessment of the book?
This book is easy to follow and can make teaching children about money fun. It talks about all the forms of money and the ways that it can be used and combined in various ways. This will be a book I get for my classroom one day!
November 30, 2017
A really unique nonfiction book that gets younger children on the road to understanding money *and* math; what a bargain!
While I think the concepts in this book are great, and the end-rhyming prose makes it more than suitable for a younger solo reader or a group read-aloud for even younger, I do think that it's a little outdated in aesthetic. The font is a curlicue-heavy, "Jokerman"-esque font, which might impede understanding, and it took me a full few days to realize that the characters in the book are cats (as the series title suggests) not trolls. Additionally, the book uses real pictures of real money (sometimes to scale, which is genius and helpful), but our bills have recently gotten a makeover! It might be time for this book to get a makeover, too.
As far as pairing with my fiction book, I chose this one as it expands on the business aspect of "Max's Bunny Business" quite literally, as it explores money. The characters also go through various transactions, which can help cement the conceptual idea of money and value. One could also link this to "Max's Bunny Business" in a more esoteric way to talk about math or, if an upper-level class, to talk about value.
While I think the concepts in this book are great, and the end-rhyming prose makes it more than suitable for a younger solo reader or a group read-aloud for even younger, I do think that it's a little outdated in aesthetic. The font is a curlicue-heavy, "Jokerman"-esque font, which might impede understanding, and it took me a full few days to realize that the characters in the book are cats (as the series title suggests) not trolls. Additionally, the book uses real pictures of real money (sometimes to scale, which is genius and helpful), but our bills have recently gotten a makeover! It might be time for this book to get a makeover, too.
As far as pairing with my fiction book, I chose this one as it expands on the business aspect of "Max's Bunny Business" quite literally, as it explores money. The characters also go through various transactions, which can help cement the conceptual idea of money and value. One could also link this to "Max's Bunny Business" in a more esoteric way to talk about math or, if an upper-level class, to talk about value.
May 1, 2022
I really liked this book and how it could be used for a math lesson involving money. The book goes in detail explaining that you need money to buy things and how you can pay with coins or bills but either way is considered to be money. The book explains that how much each bill and coin is for. The book also goes in detail explaining how their are various ways to pay and get to the desired amount. I liked the the book included a section that involved this area of concentration. I also liked how the illustrations show the amount needed as well and showed the various ways. The illustrations matched the storyline very well. Using this book during a math lesson would be very beneficial for visual learners who might need a different type of explanation. I would definitely read this book to a math class.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2024
This was such a fun book to read! I love it describes what each coin and bill represents. I would read this book to students in second grade since that is when they typically learn about money value. I am a big fan of using literature in every subject, so I would use this book to introduce students to money before doing an activity with money. Once students know the value of each coin and bill I can re-read this book and stop when there is a situation in the story where students could answer the question. Example: Zack hands over 7 dimes, 1 quarter, and 5 pennies (this is on one of the pages), what is the total that Zack has? This book has lots of fun pictures and colors that many second-graders would love! I would love to have this book in my future classroom one day.
November 23, 2021
This amusing book teaches young readers how to count and mix pennies, nickels, fives, tens, twenties, and other coins. The upbeat lyrics and silly graphics make this suitable for children. A fantastic nonfiction book for instructors to read as part of their common core curriculum or just to expose children to money. Gable not only teaches the various banknotes, but also how you may spend this money. The rhyming writing and comical graphics make learning about money enjoyable and will inspire children to read this book again and again.
November 13, 2025
A picture book that goes over the basics of US money denominations in coins and smaller bills, and gives a couple examples of how you can combine different coins or bills to equal same amounts.
2.5 for me. This was very basic, and with just 1-2 examples I’m really not sure how much this will teach kids beyond the value of different US coins and bills. The only things in rhyme are the title and the last page, the rest doesn’t even try. It was ok, but I’ve definitely seen better. Also, this is only applicable to kids who will use US money.
2.5 for me. This was very basic, and with just 1-2 examples I’m really not sure how much this will teach kids beyond the value of different US coins and bills. The only things in rhyme are the title and the last page, the rest doesn’t even try. It was ok, but I’ve definitely seen better. Also, this is only applicable to kids who will use US money.
May 18, 2017
I came across this series by chance, but it proved a great way to introduce my daughter to the concept of money values. The pictures are goofy, the rhymes are fun, and my daughter recited it for days afterward. We've since read books in the series about synonyms and antonyms, nouns, adjectives, and verbs.
November 19, 2021
I don't think I've read any of this author's books before but I really enjoyed reading this. I would have loved reading this and learning about money when I was young. Instead I learned it from my dad. Thanks dad. This book is very fun for kids and you can learn all about the different coins and bills and how they buy things for us. Plus it rhymes. And the illustrations are a lot of fun.
February 27, 2023
I think this was an excellent book. I hope to have this in my classroom one day. It was entertaining and would be an excellent educational resource book. I created a lesson plan and activities for this, I plan to use the very lesson in my classroom one day. The teacher said it was excellent and that she wouldn’t change anything!!
May 4, 2023
Used for a read aloud! This book talks about all kinds of money (dollar bills included,) but I used it to focus more on counting nickels. Children loved this story because of the comical cat characters as well as the images. Peppy rhythms, goofy illustrations, and kid-friendly examples take the mystery out of money.
October 19, 2023
Brian P. Cleary
I love Brian P Cleary books for children. His books are so simple that it makes the concepts of things like money, verbs, ad verbs, adjectives and so much more easy to understand for smaller children. His books helped teach my own children. I recommend his books to any teacher or parent.
I love Brian P Cleary books for children. His books are so simple that it makes the concepts of things like money, verbs, ad verbs, adjectives and so much more easy to understand for smaller children. His books helped teach my own children. I recommend his books to any teacher or parent.
June 14, 2023
This book was kind of confusing to a few kids I read it to at first, but then the kids got a better understanding. It helps them regcognize the difference between dollar bills and coins. I think it is a good learning book when it comes to money.
February 12, 2025
This is a great story to read while working on money in math. Students seemed to enjoy it and stay engaged. We did talk afterwards about how there are more coins and bills than pictured in the story... but the story aligns perfectly with what bills and coins we use in our math curriculum!
March 30, 2019
Silly but informative
This was a good book that reinforced the unit we were working on in class. It's fun to read and gives lots of good info on counting money.
This was a good book that reinforced the unit we were working on in class. It's fun to read and gives lots of good info on counting money.
March 11, 2024
seeking patterns amongst coinage as well as numismatism. two of a kind. three of a kind. four of a kind.
January 16, 2015
This is a fun book in the Math is CATegorical series by Brian P. Cleary. We've read all of the books in this series and we really enjoy them.
The simple, rhyming narrative and cartoonish illustrations combine to make this a fun book to read aloud. It doesn't try to subtly insert a math lesson into the middle of a story, like the MathStart books by Stuart J. Murphy do. But the result is still educational and fun.
This book has a focus on money and uses simple depictions to help children understand various units. We enjoyed reading this book together and we will certainly look for more books by this author at our local library.
The simple, rhyming narrative and cartoonish illustrations combine to make this a fun book to read aloud. It doesn't try to subtly insert a math lesson into the middle of a story, like the MathStart books by Stuart J. Murphy do. But the result is still educational and fun.
This book has a focus on money and uses simple depictions to help children understand various units. We enjoyed reading this book together and we will certainly look for more books by this author at our local library.
April 8, 2013
Brian P. Cleary has done it again! He has created a book that is fun to look at and fun to read. All this fun adds up to a child learning! In short rhyming sentences the reader learns about common US monies and how they work together. This is by no means a detailed history nor a math book. It is a fabulous introduction for early grades to a rather complicated (to them) system. Cleary has numerous books on a variety of topics that make learning fun.
March 27, 2015
This is a rhyming book that focuses on money. I talks about the coins and the dollars, plus their shapes. CLoser to the end of the book they give examples of how money is interchangeable with different coins and bills. On the last page, the book shows a picture of all of the most common money and their values. This would be a great book to use when introducing money to students or for a quick review for older students.
January 16, 2013
Rhyming text and goofy illustrations explain what money is and help young readers practice counting bills and coins.
January 31, 2014
Introduction to money.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews