Summer Reading List: A Fun Comic Book about Money Management - for Kids! (And Adults)
- Jade Lewon
- Jun 22, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 23, 2024
My Interview with award winning author, Cecile Biccari.
What’s on your reading list this summer?
Are you a curious kid (adult) with curious kids?
Is money a tricky subject for you and your family?
This new book from my good friend, and sustainable finance specialist, Cecile Biccari, Your Money and the World, is brilliant and fun - a book I wish I had when I was a child - and super relevant for my adult self today too. “How to spend, save, invest and donate sustainably”.
Read on for a sneak peak - My Interview with award winning author, Cecile Biccari.
Thank you so much for agreeing to be my first interview with an award winning author!
Tell us about yourself - Who is Cecile Biccari?
Cecile: Well it’s an ongoing story with different parts of my life colliding.
I have worked in the field of sustainable development for 20 years, most of that in finance. My focus has been, how to bring sustainability thinking into financial decisions, working in the finance industry. I have been training investment teams to understand the concept of sustainability and how it is relevant to their work.
Investment managers are specialized in managing money, often with a narrow viewpoint on money, to minimise risk, and optimise returns. My work focused on looking at the broader context - how the context influences the investment, and returns.
As adults we have to unlearn before we can re-learn. It is a lot of work to re-train.
If we want to change the narrative around money. If we want money to become (once again) a force for good, we must combine financial education with concepts of sustainability, impact and responsibility right from the start.
Kids have questions about money from a young age - it is an opportunity to create a more holistic understanding of money and impact, that can become intuitive throughout life.
“Part comic strip, part documentary, “Your Money and the World” is an illustrated children book that demystifies the role of money in the world, explains where money comes from, how it has evolved and how it can serve our needs and support our collective progress.
Above all, it aims to empower children to manage their money intuitively and confidently, by showing them the myriad of options available to them and the impacts of their financial decisions on their wealth, on their happiness and on the world around them.”
When you first told me about your book, I remember you saying that many children’s books focus on finding the treasure or pot of gold at the end of the rainbow - but they don’t say what is next - what can you do with the treasure - how to manage your money.
Exactly!
Tell us more about your inspiration and vision for the book.
Cecile: As a mother, I was getting questions about money from my kids. Books are a great tool to discuss topics with kids. Instead of explaining, it is easier for children to learn through storytelling and characters.
I couldn’t find anything in the European market, in French. Interestingly there were some books for kids about money in English, in the Anglo-Saxon market. But they were more about getting rich fast, as opposed to money, impact and responsibility.
I wanted to write something for my own kids, that explored the options and the dimensions to think about - including the consequences of their decisions.
“So many questions …Kids ask a lot of questions. Some of them are very practical, others are more philosophical.
Where does money come from?
How I can get some?
Why are some things free and some things expensive?
How much money do we need to be happy?
Who makes coins and bank notes?"
I wish that I had read a book like this when I was a child.
In fact the questions that you explore in the book are also relevant for many adults (pointing at myself here)!
Cecile: Through the kids you can reach the parents. It can be less scary or serious, and more approachable. The parents also benefit.
So, tell us more about the money management approaches that you explore in the book.
Cecile: The main ideas of the book are structured around the different options of what you can do with money, and its impact.
What you can do with your money? 5 Options
Spend
Save
Donate
Invest
Gamble
The concept of gambling vs. Investing didn’t make it into the book in the end. But, I do think that it is an important concept to explore with kids (and adults).
3 Dimensions of Money Management: What’s going to happen with the money?
Will you have more or less - in the short term or long term
How will you feel - personal wellbeing and happiness - immediate pleasure or delayed gratification
How will it impact the world around you - people and nature.
The idea is to optimise the outcome of your decision across the 3 dimensions. The 3 dimensions represent your internal compass, to help with decision making.
For example, donating. You don’t get your money back, it is like spending, but you gain personal satisfaction.
Investment could go either way. You need patience, and risk tolerance, and an understanding that the impact can be good or bad.
How do you translate this complex financial management expertise for kids?
Cecile: Make it fun for the kids, with fun examples of what they could do with the money.
“I created a short story, Nora’s Treasure, featuring a little girl who finds a treasure and tries to figure out how best to use it. She meets a magical creature who takes her on a journey to try out different options: saving, spending, donating, investing.
Along the way they come across a sleepy pig, talk to a banker, visit a derelict school and even start their own slime business. With each encounter they see how her choices play out, what happens to the money, how she feels and how her decisions affect others.”
Can you share an example of an adventure from the book that is teaching money management?
Cecile: Nora found pot of money on a walk with her grandmother. She meets a mouse, a treasure management expert, who helps to guide her on what she can do with the treasure. They travel back and forth in time, choosing differing options to see what happens.
One adventure is about spending. Nora buys candies. She gets instant gratification, but no long term impact.
In another adventure she buys a toy that her and her friends can play with. She sees that this has an impact, it makes others happy.
Nora’s adventures also explore the concepts of saving money at home or putting in the bank, and the role of the bank. Plus how compound interest works and how to you can influence what the bank does with your money.
Which stories from the book do your kids like?
Cecile: The book is part storytelling, part educational, a documentary book. Kids like the story part. The educational part is for later, to deep dive into the options and more questions - including the history of money in the world.
For the stories, my kids like the slime story. In one adventure Nora invests in a slime business.
(You have to buy the book to find out more about the slime business :)
What do you want us to take away from the book?
Cecile: Get kids to be critical about money. Rethink the role of money in life and the world. Is it serving its main objective - Happiness?
The book is not a how-to guide. It is a tool to explore the concepts about money and an internal compass to guide decision making. There is no right or wrong answer.
My hope is that the concepts plant the seeds to build on later. Real learning comes from practicing. Start experimenting with pocket money. Do different things with it, experiment, and learn from the experiences.
Amazing!
I want every child and adult in my life to read your book!
Where can we find the book?
Cecile: It is on Amazon.com, From my website, and in the European market it is in many book stores.
Order online here:
The book is currently available in French and German.
Order the French and German versions at these links:
Cecile's website: https://www.norastreasure.com/book/
English version coming in 2025!
For your summer reading list everyone - and not just for kids! A fun way to learn more about money management.
Sustainable finance for curious kids (and adults).
A brilliant book to take to the beach this summer!
Jade
Lewon
Med
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