Follow the Money!

by Loreen Leedy

George, a newly minted quarter on his way to the bank, is in for quite a day. He's about to be traded, spent, lost, found, donated, dropped into a vending machine, washed in a washing machine, and generally passed all around town. By the time George finally ends up back at the bank, he's given readers a real run for their money.

By George, what a way to practice math, learn about basic economics. and have a few laughs, too!

Genres: Mathematics, Picture Books, Money, Childrens, Nonfiction, 1st Grade

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

About the author

Loreen Leedy is the author and illustrator of over 40 picture books with math, science, language arts, and other curriculum content. Her books showcase information in a kid-friendly format, often with characters and entertaining stories.

Honors and awards for her books include: ALA Notable Book, Science Books and Films finalist, Reading Rainbow feature book, Chicago Library Best of the Best, many Scholastic Book Fair selections, Florida Book Award, Parent's Choice Award, many Junior Library Guild selections, and Outstanding Science Trade Book by the National Science Teachers Association.

Loreen has spoken at hundreds of schools and many conferences such as the International Reading Association, the American Library Association, the Mazza Summer Conference, and the UVU Engaged Reading Forum.

She lives in central Florida with her husband Andy, who is a scientist and a cat named Knickers who has an easily triggered purrometer. They love to travel, read, and watch movies.

Reviews

[Ruhama · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clever look at money and where it might travel throughout its life. Mostly we follow a quarter as it gets minted, sent to a bank, then travels throughout a city (from a grocery store to a parking meter to a garden center) and finally back to the bank. Math is included
throughout the book, and readers will be able to figure out page numbers by the amount of money shown on the bottom of the page (e.g. page 25 is a quarter). The text is minimal, though there are several thought bubbles that keep the story moving. The illustrations are clear and colorful; the artist used photographs of money, which makes it stand out. A note is included in the back that gives more information about the history of money and specifically money in the United States. A glossary is also included.

[Mary Conroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome book for teaching young students all about money! The story starts out teaching students about where money comes from and how it is distributed. They even show rolls of coins and how much each is worth. I thought it was cool that the books talks about which president is on what coin; it could easily be tied into a social studies standard. The book also gives real world examples about adding and subtracting money, and when and where you would need this skill. It goes over the exchange of money, making change for a dollar, what different coins equal, and even what donating to charity means. This is a book I definitely plan to purchase for my classroom.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Modern Fantasy
Grade Level: Early Primary (K-1)
This book was such a fun read. It was just to follow a quarter and see where it goes. It is such a fun way for kids to learn more about money. It also would help kids practice what they have learned about money.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for a math lesson on money, not good as a story.

[Shayla Parrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nonfiction and math!! Say no more. I need it. This book is comical and practical.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun and very informative book about money: how it is made, spent, saved and earned. We liked the mixture of real pictures of coins and dollars with the cartoonish illustrations of the people and backgrounds. The math examples are good for demonstrating concepts like making change and calculating cost or earnings and the narrative is simple enough for children to understand. I love that it teaches principles of saving for the items you want to buy as well as donating to good causes. Overall, this is a very entertaining and educational book; that's not always easy to create!

[Cailean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our oldest chose this at her school on library day and brought it home. It follows the plight of a quarter from newly minted and on and is all cartoon format with the money talking, etc. It's pretty educational - showing all coins and dollar bills and values. The page numbers are even shown in coins (page 7 is a nickel plus two pennies) which is cute but bordering on gimmicky. It's great for kids just learning about money and early addition/subtraction.

[Enasia Lee]

This is a great story for teaching students all about money. Students can learn about how money is made and how it is distributed. This can be tied into social studies because if the presidents on the coin. The students learn about subtracting and adding money. This can be acted out by having a school store and the students will have to add and subtract their money.

[Callie Risse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is all about money, from how coins and dollars are made to how they are spent. I love the way the story follows a quarter from the time it was created to how it was spent and ended up in the bank again.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for teaching students about money! The book talks about the process of making the quarter and what presidents are of the different coins. Also, this book talks about the value of a quarter and adding and subtracting money through real-world examples.

[Gaby Roman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good short story to read. I would use this book to teach the concept of money and once my students start to recognize the amount of money, I would have them count the money as I read the story. At the end, we could count how much money the girl spent.

[Jazmyne Henry]

This book helps students understand all aspects of money! They learn its value and how to distribute money. In this story students learn just how useful it is to understand money and the journey it takes throughout the country.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cute story follows the day in the life of a newly minted quarter. We see the quarter making friends with other money and watch as he travels from the bank to the grocery store to the vending machine and so on.

Kinda kooky illustrations.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

explanation of money from the perspective of a newly minted quarter. a bit over my kids' heads but would be good for an early elementary student.

[Nickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun book, It's about a quarter's journey passing through the hands of people and returning to the bank.

[Myles · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was funny because the money was talking and saying funny things
.

[Shelly Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The enitire book is centered around money, including the page numbers. It details how money starts and moves through various hands.

[Airiel Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great money book. It has great explanations about different denominations as well as good real life connections.

[Kristen Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to showthe value of money and realistic situations on spending it

[Kamyshia]

great book for counting money with real life examples that are very relatable .

[Andria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet book that can help students understand more about money that they use.

[Jessica Chambliss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another great book on why understanding money is important! There isn't much text but the pictures help the children to understand!

[Denesha Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice book that shows how money circulates through the economy. This book could possibly be read aloud. However, I would keep it in the class library as a resource as well.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of makes you sad to spend your quarters on something ;-)

[Marvelyne]

Helps little children understand the significance of money and the ways in which it can be spent.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good lesson on how money can travel across the country (and even the world?).