Money, Money, Money: Where It Comes from, How to Save It, Spend It, and Make It

Sandy Campbell is a reference librarian in the Science and Technology Library at the University of Alberta.

Though Eve Drobot is a Torontonian, this book is clearly written with an
eye to the American market. Canadian, English, French, and other
currencies all appear as examples throughout the book, but the greenback
and its history take a prominent role. The fact that she uses the word
“check,” when most banks in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom,
and France spell the word “cheque,” also indicates her focus.

That said, the book is a good general introduction to financial
matters. After the chapters on the history and the manufacture of
currencies, Drobot discusses the role of banks, electronic funds, theft,
and the value of money. The material is sufficiently detailed and
up-to-date for the book to support student research.

Drobot often uses anecdotes to liven up the text. For example, she
tells the story of recent fake $200 U.S. bills with President George W.
Bush on them and the phrase “We like broccoli!”

The book is abundantly illustrated and uses different-coloured
backgrounds and text boxes to highlight different subjects. Photographs,
drawings, reproductions of paintings, and cartoons hold the readers’
interest. To illustrate the speed of credit card transactions, a map
shows the information passing through seven centres (more than 15,794
kilometres in four seconds).

The text is written at an upper-elementary reading level, but the book
is informative enough that it would be appropriate for readers in Grades
7 to 9 as well. Highly recommended.