Book Review - Ella Earns Her Own Money

Ella Earns Her Own Money (Cloverleaf Books - Money Basics)

By: Lisa Bullard
Illustrated by: Mike Moran
Publisher: Lerner Publishing
Publication Date: August 2013
ISBN: 978-1467707619
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: December 2013

While Ella and her mom were in the sports store, she spotted a basket of brand new soccer balls. It would be awesome to have one, but when she asked her mom to buy one she said “That ball costs $20.00. We’ll talk about it tonight.” A new one would be so much better than her old one for sure. Later Ella’s mom gave her a $2.00 allowance to put in her three jars: Save, Share, and Spend. There was $1.00 in that Spend jar and she had a long way to go before she could buy a new soccer ball. Was there anything she could do to earn more money for that jar?

Her friend Will earned his allowance, but Ella’s chores were “just part of being in [their] family.” She would have to do some “special jobs” to earn extra money. That car needed some cleaning. Into the trash bucket went all kinds of yucky things and Ella worked hard to vacuum it. There was one extra dollar! There were lots of houses in their neighborhood so Mom help her make some posters. “Hire Ella!” Mr. Hanson needed someone to weed and Ms. Lowry paid her “to give Barney a bath.” If you add in the $3.00 she made, how much more would Ella have to add to that Spend jar to get that soccer ball?

This is an excellent book for young students to learn how to save money for the extras they want. While learning about saving, children will also have to learn about the importance of earning money. This simple beginning chapter book can be easily tackled by the newly independent reader. Small sidebars also prompt the reader to consider additional information about money basics. For example, one says “Amount in Ella’s Spend Jar $8.00 + $4.00 - $1.00 = $11.00.” In the back of the book is an index, a glossary, a “Make A Money Chart” activity, and additional recommended book and website resources to explore. There are additional complementary resources on the publisher’s website.

Quill says: The Cloverleaf "Money Basics" series is an excellent way for young students to begin to learn about handling money.