Alexander Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst
Alexander tries to save a dollar that he has received from his grandparents to buy a walkie-talkie, but his poor decisions result in his not saving anything.
Economic Concepts: opportunity cost
Bananas: From Manolo to Margie by George Ancona
Readers can follow the journey of a banana from Honduras, where it is grown, to North America, where it is eventually consumed.
Economic Concepts: interdependence
The Big Buck Adventure by Deborah Tobola
A little girl figures out what she can get with her dollar in a candy shop, a toy store, a deli, and a pet department.
Economic Concepts: cost/benefit analysis, opportunity cost, scarcity
Bringing Rain to the Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema
This book tells the story of how a young boy, Ki-pat, brings much needed rain to the dry Kapiti Plain.
Economic Concepts: Scarcity
Bunny Money by Rosemary Wells
Ruby knows exactly what Grandma would love for her birthday. Ruby has saved up a wallet full of bills, but as one mishap leads to another, money starts running through the bunnies’ fingers. . . . Will there be enough left for the perfect present?
Economic Concepts: scarcity, choice, alternatives, price, marginal cost/benefit, saving, spending
A Chair for My Mother by Vera Williams
After losing all of their belongings in a house fire, a young girl and her mother save coins in a jar until they can afford a comfortable chair to share. They search various furniture stores looking for the one just for them.
Economic Concepts: saving, human resources, wages, scarcity, consumers, opportunity cost, budget
Charlie Needs a Cloak by Tomie dePaola
Charlie needs a cloak, so the young shepherd sets out to make one. Starting in spring, he shears his sheep, washes the wool, and cards it. Then he spins the wool to yarn, and dies the yarn in the juice from late-summer berries. Every fall evening, he weaves the yarn into cloth, which he cuts into pieces. He pins the pieces together and then sews them . . . and Charlie’s new cloak is ready just in time for winter!
Economic Concepts: allocation of goods and services
Common Ground by Molly Bang
A simple story of our planet’s natural resources with jewel-like paintings by Caldecott Honor author Molly Bang. Through the example of a shared village green and the growing needs of the townspeople who share it, Molly Bang presents the challenge of handling our planet’s natural resources.
The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins
Victoria and Sam are forced to share—or distribute—a limited number of cookies. Each time the doorbell rings, more friends arrive and the children face a cookie scarcity problem.
Economic Concepts: Scarcity
The Dream Jar by Bonnie Pryor
Valentina, a Russian immigrant girl, wants to help contribute money to the family’s dream jar, but everyone says she is too young. Valentina stays in school and discovers a way that she can earn money for her family
Erandi’s Braids by Antonia Herandez Madrigal
Erandi and her mother are poor and need money to purchase a new fishing net. Erandi also hopes that her mother will buy her a new dress for the upcoming fiesta. One option is to sell their hair to the hair buyer, who will use it for wigs, eyelashes, and fine embroidery.
Economic Concepts: opportunity cost
Faithful Elephants: A True Story of Animals, People and War by Yukio Tsuchiya
A zookeeper recounts the story of John, Tonky, and Wanly, three performing elephants at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, whose turn it is to die, and of their keepers, who weep and pray that World War II will end so their beloved elephants might be saved.
Economic Concepts: scarcity, choice, alternatives
Four Dollars and Fifty Cents by Eric Kimmel
To avoid paying the Widow Macrae the four dollars and fifty cents he owes her, deadbeat cowboy Shorty Long plays dead and almost gets buried alive.
Economic Concepts: money, institutions
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (natural resources, goods/services)
Story about a tree that literally gives her entire self to the person she loves.
Economic Concepts: opportunity cost
The Go-Around Dollar by Barbara Johnson Adams
Every dollar travels from person to person in a different way. Matt finds a dollar on his way home from school and uses it to buy shoelaces from Eric. Eric spends the dollar on bubble gum at the corner store. Jennifer, who happens to be the next customer, receives the dollar as part of her change.
Economic Concepts: money, institutions
Going to Town by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Pa has a wonderful surprise–he is taking the family on a trip into town! Laura is very excited, for she has never been to a town, and this special visit is everything she imagined and more.
Economic Concepts: pioneers visiting a general store, resources, trading, interdependence
Hamburger Heaven by Wong Herbert Yee
Pinky Pig’s clarinet has met with an unfortunate accident. Lucky for Pinky she works at Hamburger Heaven: she can work hard and save up for a new one. But the customers are growing tired of the same old menu – cheeseburgers – and Pinky might soon lose her job due to a drop in sales. So she springs into action, devising a menu in which all the customers can choose any tasty topping for their cheeseburgers.
Economic Concepts: incentives, competition, price
How Much is Million? by David M. Schwartz.
Marvelosissimo the Mathematical Magician demonstrates the meaning of a million by showing his friends that it would take 23 days to even count to a million and that a goldfish bowl large enough to hold a million goldfish could hold a whale.
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
When a generous boy shares a cookie with a hungry mouse, it is the beginning of a chain of events that keeps the boy busy. If you give a mouse a cookie, after all, he’s bound to ask for….
Economic Concepts: wants/needs, goods/services, opportunity cost
Jalapeno Bagels by Natasha Wing
Pablo is supposed to bring something to school for International Day and has to pick something from all the delicious things his Mexican mother and Jewish father make in their bakery.
Economic Concepts: trade, money
Lemonade for Sale by Stuart Murphy
Four kids and a parrot, run a sometimes thriving lemonade stand.They create a bar graph to track the rise and fall of their lemonade sales.
Economic Concepts: products, sales, tracking profit, incentives, competition, price
Little Nino’s Pizzeria by Karen Barbour
Tony helps his father in the family pizzeria.
Economic Concepts: natural resources, human resources, capital resources
Mailing May by Michael O. Tunnell
Its 1914 and Charlotte May Pierstorff wants to cross seventy-five miles of Idaho mountains to see her grandma. There is no highway except the railroad, and a train ticket will cost her parents a full day’s pay.This is a true story of how May got to visit her grandma, thanks to her own spunk, her father’s ingenuity, and the U.S. mail.
Economic Concepts: cost/benefit analysis, choice
The Monkey Bridge by Rafe Martin
In this retelling of a Buddhist tale, a Monkey King teaches a human king a valuable lesson when he sacrifices himself for his people.
Economic Concepts: interdependence
A New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert
At the end of World War II, Anna needs a new winter coat, but her mother has no money. They use valuable possessions to barter for the goods and services needed to produce the coat.
Economic Concepts: Money, barter, trade, specialization, markets
Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss
With numerous rhymes and occasional silly scenarios, the narrator tries to prepare the reader for life and its ups and downs.
Economic Concepts: opportunity cost
Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall
This story conjures up the daily life of rural New England in the 19th century. Everything the extra that the family has grown and made during the year is loaded up and taken to market where everything is sold. Items for the family are purchased and taken back home where the process of production begins all over again.
Economic Concepts: decision-making, resources, trade, specialization, markets
Pancakes! Pancakes! by Eric Carle
What does Jack want for breakfast? A big pancake! But first, Jack’s mother needs flour from the mill, an egg from the black hen, milk from the spotted cow, butter churned from fresh cream, and firewood for the stove. Will Jack ever get his pancake?
Economic Concepts: natural resources, human resources, capital resources
The Paperboy by Dav Pilkey
When the whole neighborhood is still asleep, the paperboy is in the garage, rolling papers and filling his red bag to the top. With his faithful dog at his side, the paperboy sets off in a mood of contentedness and confidence.
Economic Concepts: productive resources
Passage to Freedom; The Sugihara Story by Ken Mochizuki
This book looks at the Japanese diplomat who used his powers, against the orders of his own government, to assist thousands of Jews in escaping the Nazis in Lithuania.
Economic Concepts: supply/demand
Round and Round the Money Goes by Melvin and Gilda Berger
This is a brief history of the development of money and our economy.
Economic Concepts: Money, earning, saving, spending
Sam and the Lucky Money by Karen Chinn
Sam is given the traditional gift of “lucky money” to spend in any way he chooses! He’s unhappy when he realizes he doesn’t have enough money to purchase the things he wants.
Economic Concepts: Scarcity, cost-benefit analysis
Something Special for Me by Vera B. Williams
Rosa is a girl who cannot make up her mind. She has a jar full of money with which Mama says she may buy her own birthday gift, if she could only decide what she really wants.
Economic Concepts: scarcity, marginal cost/benefit
Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens
In a version of an old slave story, Hare solves his family’s problems by tricking rich and lazy Bear. This story celebrates the trickster tradition of using one’s wits to overcome hardship.
Economic Concepts: cost/benefit analysis, choice, price, incentives, competition
The Tortilla Factory by Gary Paulsen
Workers till the black soil, operate the clanking machinery of the factory, and drive the trucks that deliver the tortillas back into the hands that will plant the yellow seeds.
Economic Concepts: resources, investment, production
Walter the Baker by Eric Carle
When the cat spills all the milk, and Walter the Baker must substitute water, the Duke and Duchess notice the difference in their favorite sweet rolls. The Duke presents Walter with a challenge: create from one piece of dough a roll the sun can shine through three times, or be banished from the Duchy. The task seems impossible, but after a few lucky accidents and a little help from his family, Walter presents the Duke with his invention — the pretzel.
Economic Concepts: scarcity, marginal cost/benefit