Have you ever heard a song, watched a movie or read something remarkable and thought, “Man, I wish I had thought of that.” Kidpreneurs, by Adam and Matthew Toren is the children’s book I have wanted to write since before I was a writer, except it’s exponentially better than anything I ever would have done.
I started writing two years ago because I wanted to write for children, and one of the subjects I most wanted to write about was money. Longtime readers might remember The Eighth Wonder of the World, my first public attempt at writing about money for children.
Cindy and I do our best to teach Mia and Max about money, and always explain our monetary exchanges whenever appropriate. To me this seems natural. A basic understanding of money should be given to children at the earliest possible age, as fundamental understanding is essential to monetary success. It is difficult for me to understand why there are so few books that teach children about the relationship between money and daily decisions. After all, it is one of the most important things we will ever learn.
Kidpreneurs does everything I ever imagined a high quality children’s book about money would do, then takes it several steps further. Adam and Matthew are serial entrepreneurs and founders of YoungEntrepreneur.com. They believe in the power of youth and have written a book encouraging children to harness their natural curiosity and internal drive in order to set the stage for limitless potential that can last the rest of their lives.
What’s not to love about this book? Kidpreneurs presents the practicalities of how a business works, while also asking an essential life question at an early age: When you grow up, do you want to be your own boss or do you want to work for somebody else?
Through the use of entertaining dialogue and adorable cartoon people, Adam and Matthew guide the reader through a series of intelligent decisions, each one building on the last and constantly reinforcing the idea that time and effort have value. The pages are friendly and colorful with a mixture of wonderful drawings and text that is both intelligent and succinct. The copy is straightforward, but there is also an enormous amount communicated through the pictures.
Kidpreneurs is a book that can be equally enjoyed by parents and children.
One of my favorite things about Kidpreneurs comes about midway through the book with the introduction of several sample businesses that any young reader could start. These businesses are charming by themselves, but what is most impressive is that each sample business also includes a completed outline, allowing a child to not only see what it takes to run that particular business, but helping them to generate ideas for other future businesses as well.
Each sample business asks the following questions:
- What we do
- Hours available
- Target customers
- Startup costs
- Selling points
- Advertising needed
Sample businesses include babysitting, lawn care, lemonade stand (classic!), dog walking, window washing, errand services and a virtual assistant. Each business plan is well laid out with step-by-step examples which show that these business are easily attainable for most children.
Chapters also conclude with self-assessment quizzes which are cheeky, fun and a terrific way to have an audience of young readers monitor their comprehension.
One final thing of note is that Kidpreneurs genuinely approaches the needs of a 21st century learner, by helping them to understand the essential skills of tomorrow, such as how to build a simple website and the basics of networking.
Not only is Kidpreneurs the book I would have loved to read as a kid and the book I would have loved to have written as an adult, it is the book I’m eager to share with my children. Click here to go to the Kidpreneurs website.
Writer Dad
I’ve entered a contest where the winner gets a six month gig blogging about happiness. I would LOVE to land this gig. Voting takes less than five seconds and you can vote once per day. Click here to cast your vote. THANKS!
About Sean Platt
entrepreneurs…… you should know! you had the money bloodlust as far back as I can remember…lets see: rubbing my feet and neck when I was tired for your own little spa-package fee when you were about six years old. Cleaning your room and throwing all your little toys you were tired of in your backpack and hustling them at school. Buying a huge tub of red licorice at price club and selling individual pieces at YMCA at a very tidy mark-up. Buying bubble gum packs with Batman collectible buttons inside and pinning them all to your jacket and walking back and forth in front of the theatre the day Batman opened… hmmmm i know there’s more! Apart from that, I can say that I am really glad that your dad and I gave you guys allowances based on performing your chores at a very early age; it gave you really good perspective on how hard you had to work to afford the things you wanted to buy and know that in life if you don’t perform your pocket suffers. While I was never made to earn my keep as a kid (sure would have helped today!) I was always entreprenureal in crafting things and selling them. My dad let me have a corner of his store where I sold all my scarves, hats and other crocheted creations. It was always exciting when something sold. anyway, I just wanted to comment, but this easily turns into an essay or book! love you, mom
entrepreneurs…… you should know! you had the money bloodlust as far back as I can remember…lets see: rubbing my feet and neck when I was tired for your own little spa-package fee when you were about six years old. Cleaning your room and throwing all your little toys you were tired of in your backpack and hustling them at school. Buying a huge tub of red licorice at price club and selling individual pieces at YMCA at a very tidy mark-up. Buying bubble gum packs with Batman collectible buttons inside and pinning them all to your jacket and walking back and forth in front of the theatre the day Batman opened… hmmmm i know there’s more! Apart from that, I can say that I am really glad that your dad and I gave you guys allowances based on performing your chores at a very early age; it gave you really good perspective on how hard you had to work to afford the things you wanted to buy and know that in life if you don’t perform your pocket suffers. While I was never made to earn my keep as a kid (sure would have helped today!) I was always entreprenureal in crafting things and selling them. My dad let me have a corner of his store where I sold all my scarves, hats and other crocheted creations. It was always exciting when something sold. anyway, I just wanted to comment, but this easily turns into an essay or book! love you, mom
My eleven year old son has just earned a tidy sum selling off old games on Ebay and helping his dad prepare and paint our entire living room and hall; he came along to paint shops with me and helped in the design process, too. He’s also laid aside time to help lay the new floor. My daughter, who hates painting, just earned some extra cash helping me get my new scary MP4 loaded, tackled and up and running. She’s incredibly creative and works with laser focus and determination when she’s engrossed, but doesn’t have the entrepreneurial drive my son has. They would have helped us for nothing if we’d asked, but it was interesting to see just how entrepreneurial kids can be when they choose to be.
This book’s a possible for my son’s birthday. Thanks Sean. Thanks, too, to your mum who fills in lots of gaps in such a delicious way!
.-= janice´s last blog ..Berries and Birds =-.
My eleven year old son has just earned a tidy sum selling off old games on Ebay and helping his dad prepare and paint our entire living room and hall; he came along to paint shops with me and helped in the design process, too. He’s also laid aside time to help lay the new floor. My daughter, who hates painting, just earned some extra cash helping me get my new scary MP4 loaded, tackled and up and running. She’s incredibly creative and works with laser focus and determination when she’s engrossed, but doesn’t have the entrepreneurial drive my son has. They would have helped us for nothing if we’d asked, but it was interesting to see just how entrepreneurial kids can be when they choose to be.
This book’s a possible for my son’s birthday. Thanks Sean. Thanks, too, to your mum who fills in lots of gaps in such a delicious way!
.-= janice´s last blog ..Berries and Birds =-.
Great find. Look forwarding to reading this book and sharing with others. Thanks.
.-= David Miller´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at =-.
Great find. Look forwarding to reading this book and sharing with others. Thanks.
.-= David Miller´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at =-.
I read this book to a group of 4th graders and they were able to make connections to money matters instantly. The book naturally and instantly caught their attention and it was exciting to see students so engaged in a book that made a genuine connection to every day life situations. Great read and it is never too early to start. The icons are wonderful for children of all ages and pictures tell a story. This book happens to have excellent content, vocabulary and pictures. It is triple thread. Thanks Adam and Matthew you hit it out of the ball park.
.-= Cindy´s last blog ..21st Century Learners Choose the Write Media =-.
I read this book to a group of 4th graders and they were able to make connections to money matters instantly. The book naturally and instantly caught their attention and it was exciting to see students so engaged in a book that made a genuine connection to every day life situations. Great read and it is never too early to start. The icons are wonderful for children of all ages and pictures tell a story. This book happens to have excellent content, vocabulary and pictures. It is triple thread. Thanks Adam and Matthew you hit it out of the ball park.
.-= Cindy´s last blog ..21st Century Learners Choose the Write Media =-.
@ Sean, thank you for such a wonderful review of Kidpreneurs. You have such a powerful way with words that you have really captured a lot of our thoughts within this post. Thank you, it means a lot to my brother and I.
@WriterDad’sMom: Thanks for sharing this, it brought back many similar memories: “Cleaning your room and throwing all your little toys you were tired of in your backpack and hustling them at school.”
@Janice: Let us know if you would like a signed or dedicated copy for your son’s b’day if/when you order a copy, we’d be happy to personalize it with a dedication!
@David Miller: Appreciate you sharing Kidpreneurs with others, we are trying to reach out to empower as many future entrepreneurs as we can!
@Cindy: Wow! That is great to hear! Your comment is really appreciated and the fact that the 4th graders loved it means a lot to us! Thank you! We are starting to plan out a speaking tour where we will be visiting many elementary schools, book stores and libraries to try and reach out to as many KIDPRENEURS as we can!
.-= Adam Toren´s last blog ..As Seen In… =-.
@ Sean, thank you for such a wonderful review of Kidpreneurs. You have such a powerful way with words that you have really captured a lot of our thoughts within this post. Thank you, it means a lot to my brother and I.
@WriterDad’sMom: Thanks for sharing this, it brought back many similar memories: “Cleaning your room and throwing all your little toys you were tired of in your backpack and hustling them at school.”
@Janice: Let us know if you would like a signed or dedicated copy for your son’s b’day if/when you order a copy, we’d be happy to personalize it with a dedication!
@David Miller: Appreciate you sharing Kidpreneurs with others, we are trying to reach out to empower as many future entrepreneurs as we can!
@Cindy: Wow! That is great to hear! Your comment is really appreciated and the fact that the 4th graders loved it means a lot to us! Thank you! We are starting to plan out a speaking tour where we will be visiting many elementary schools, book stores and libraries to try and reach out to as many KIDPRENEURS as we can!
.-= Adam Toren´s last blog ..As Seen In… =-.