Reviews

Gr 4-7-This book presents the responses of 166 kids to questions about the pros and cons of allowances, how to convince parents to give them, how they're allocated, and whether and how they should be tied to chores. Nathan also presents the children's ideas on a variety of possible structures, from a regular schedule of specific chores to the "just because" plan, where youngsters get allowances as their share of family income but may be expected to do a share of the work. Children's suggestions for reminding parents to pay, asking for more money, keeping track of finances, and repairing broken agreements round out the manual. A "Troubleshooting Guide," addressing specific problems; a brief resource list; and an account of how the children (and a few parents) were polled round out the guide. The writing style closely follows the consumer-friendly practicality of Zillions magazine, breezy vocabulary and all. The book is clearly written, and situations are described broadly enough for wide application; oversimplification is not a problem. Loony black-and-white cartoons add fun but no information to the text. There is a lot of new material here for those who are interested in a fair amount of detail. Steven Otfinoski's excellent The Kid's Guide to Money (Scholastic, 1996) offers just three pages on allowances before devoting more than 100 pages to other sources of income. With its popular but little-covered topic, logical organization, and attractive style, this book is well worth the investment.-Jonathan Betz-Zall, Sno-Isle Regional Library System, Edmonds, WA