Stock Market Concepts in a Story!

books:


	• Lawn Boy Gary Paulsen Wendy Lamb Books, 2007 - 96 pages average customer review:based on 16 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Book Review: Lawn Boy

My first real summer job was working at a fudge shop in Northern Michigan. I scooped some ice cream, rolled some waffle cones, earned minimum wage and was thrilled. The unnamed narrator in "Lawn Boy" happens upon a similarly ordinary summer gig: mowing lawns. The whirlwind of events that follow in Gary Paulsen's latest probably make Lawn Boy wish he could be carefree and elbow deep in some butter pecan.

The story begins as our hero inherits a riding lawn mower from his grandmother - pretty unassuming stuff, right? A neighbor inquires about the cost of getting his lawn cut, and that is how it all begins. There is a lot of business to be had. Before he knows it, lawn boy is hiring employees and investing his money with the help of a neighbor/hippy/stockbroker named Arnold. Soon thereafter Prizefighter Joey Pow enters the mix, and things really start to get interesting. Mo' money, mo' problems. When the dust settles, Lawn Boy realizes that his summer job was a valuable experience in more ways than one.

This title wears the "fast, entertaining read" badge proudly. Paulsen keeps the action moving while introducing youngsters to some basic financial principles. Where I'm from (London, circa 1910), this is also called the "spoonful of sugar technique". A quality fiction selection. Readers should enjoy this almost as much as a double waffle cone.

for more information click here

Stock Market Concepts in a Story!

I really enjoyed reading this book together with my 9 year old who is an advanced reader. I don't know if he really absorbed what was actually happening when the stock grew and eventually split, but he did understand the boy was making money in stocks and was exposed to new financial terms, which is a good start.

A short paragraph about the previous lawn mower in the neighborhood (evidently not a child) running off with the wife of one of his customers was unnecessary. I would have preferred this idea not be introduced and I read past it without drawing attention to it.

When it comes to money, emotions are always involved. The boy continually frets about telling his parents how much money he's earned because he worries his parents will feel bad and he will be bragging. His emotions also play a role in sacrificing summer vacation and fun when working to make a profit. There is a fair amount of humor through out the book and characters are added slowly making it easier for children to distinguish and remember who is who. My son was definitely looking forward to reading the next chapter each night.

Woven into the story are the concepts of shares of stock, a stockbroker, fees, commissions, partnerships, employees, competition, and more. When you are looking for something entertaining to begin teaching your child about finances, try this engaging book.

for more information click here

Lawn Boy

We used this book in a 3rd grade book club. The kids loved the book. They found it easy to read and enjoyed the length of each chapter since each chapter was short, they met with success. The topic of stocks was above them and probably better suited for a 4th or 5th grader. But they did identify with making money since most had jobs around the house that they earned money for and they were doing an economy lesson in school at the time so some of the concepts really reinforced what they were doing in class.

The other nice thing about this book is that it is contemporary to their lives, many of the books we have read in book club are great works of litature but they were written a lot of years before their time. This was a book that talked about current tv shows and things have happened in recent times.

for more information click here

Great book for young boys

My 10 year old son (who does not particularly like to read) loved this book. He read it in less than a week (it is only 88 pages), and would frequently talk about it - telling us what was going on in the story - the boy starts a lawn mowing business and one of his clients invests the money for him. We would get daily updates as to how much money the boy has now. It also sparked some discussion as to how savings, investing and 401Ks and other retirement accounts work. Not your normal dinner conversation with a 10 yr old. A great find for any boy that is into lawn mowers or entrepenurship!

for more information click here

not as great as his other books

I just finished reading this with my nine year old son. We've read and LOVED Hatchet and REALLY LOVED Harris and Me. So, I suppose it would be hard to crank out another really great book. This one is short and simple. It came at a good time, though, because I'm trying to teach my son about the stock market. This certainly got his attention! Cute, but nothing to get excited about. If you haven't read Harris and Me, you haven't really lived.

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

Money management novels and entrepreneur books for tween age kids!
Fun books and DVDs for your MUST HAVE list!
Learn About Your World - Read These Books!
Texas Bluebonnet Award 2008-09 Master List
Favorites & the Best Books 2

search for books
boy, lawn

Impressum / about us