Written by Pamela George
Illustrated by Meredith Luce
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2021 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/threelittlepiggyO000geor
Financial Literacy for Children
Taree Little Piggy Ganks
Written by Pamela George « Illustrated by Meredith Luce
DC Canada Education Publishing
Written by: Pamela George
Illustrated by: Meredith Luce
Editors: Leonard Judge, Stephen Sedgwick-Williams
Copy Editor: S. Evelyn Cimesa
Cover Design: Meredith Luce
Published in 2016 by: DC Canada Education Publishing’
180 Metcalfe Street, Suite 204
Ottawa, ON Canada K2P:1P5
www.dc-canada.ca
Text © 2016 Pamela George
Illustrations © 2016 DC Canada Education Publishing
Printed in Canada
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
in any form or by any electronic or mechanical
means including information storage and retrieval systems
without written permission of the copyright owner.
Funded by the
Canada
ist
Government
of Canada
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada
through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities.
Three Little Piggy Banks
ISBN: 978-1-77205-176-6
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
George, Pamela, 1969-, author
Three Little Piggy Banks / written by Pamela George ; illustrated by Meredith Luce.
(Financial literacy for children) .
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-77205-176-6 (paperback)
1. Money—Juvenile fiction. 2. Thriftiness—Juvenile fiction. 3. Sharing—Juvenile fiction. I. Luce, Meredith, 1988-,
illustrator II. Title. III. Series. IV. Series: Financial literacy for children
PS8613.E5675T57 2016 jC813'.6 C2016-906313-5
Foreword
Financial literacy can be described as having the knowledge,
skills and confidence to make responsible financial decisions.
How we manage our money and make informed financial
decisions has a profound impact on our ability to successfully
manage our affairs and reach our financial goals. Sadly the
level of financial literacy in Canada has declined in recent
times putting a growing number of Canadians at risk of
experiencing financial problems and hardship.
In her book, Three Little Piggy Banks, Pamela George
answers the question we hear from people young and old “why
don’t they teach this stuff in school?” and takes us on an
entertaining and practical journey of helping younger children
learn and master the basic money skills of saving, sharing and
spending.
With easy access to credit today, many adults have
forgotten or never learned the value of delayed gratification
and the feeling you get from knowing that you saved up and
paid for something with your money instead of borrowed
money. The Three Little Piggy Banks is a resource that parents
and teachers can embrace and share with their children and
students and help them learn these important life skills.
Scott Hannah
President & CEO
Credit Counselling Society
Note to Parents and Teachers
Every day, | see how financial illiteracy causes homelessness, addictions, broken
dreams, sickness, broken marriages and broken children. | see firsthand how this
epidemic is passed on from generation to generation, perpetuating the cycle of
excessive debt and living pay cheque to pay cheque. My objective for this book
is to give children an opportunity to finally break that cycle and allow them to be
free from the burden of financial worries and to enjoy the freedom of financial
sustainability. |
It is never too soon to start learning about money and how to manage it. Let’s
educate the children who will grow up to become responsible and successful adults
who, in the absence of financial worries, will have the capacity to focus on their
dreams and live their life at their full and true potential.
Let’s learn from Ella and Andy. Let's all learn about:
* Goal setting and planned spending
¢ Giving back
¢ Delayed gratification
* Keeping track of our expenses
* Talking openly about money, thereby removing its taboo and stigma
¢ Separating savings from spending
¢ Living within our means
To help children practise these skills, you will need:
* To give your child 3 dollars every week. It could be less or more but whatever
amount you use it should be consistent and it should be able to be divided
equally into three parts (saving, sharing and spending)
* 3 piggy banks or 3 jars or 3 bowls with lids
¢ Stars or coloured pencils to draw stars
* The worksheet at the back of the book (feel free to copy as necessary)
Pamela George
Ella and Andy are twins. On Sunday, they’re both turning
five years old. They’re very excited.
Wh le walking home from school,
they talk about their perfect birthday
presents
“Well |want a bicycle, so | can ride
a two-wheeler!” says Andy.
vy?
Soon it is Sunday.
Ella and Andy can’t wait
to get their presents.
They sit with their eyes closed.
“Surprise!
say the ir paren Ts
Each of them has three little piggy banks sitting on the table.
“Happy birthday,” says Mom. “We hope you like your gifts!”
Ella and Andy are confused.
“What are these?” both ask at the same time.
“These are piggy banks,” Mom says.
“But what about our bike and camera?” Ella asks.
“Sweethearts,” Mom says. “When | was young like you, |
never got gifts for my birthday. Here you have beautiful
gifts. You should say thank you.
“Your dad and | spent a lot of time trying to find the
perfect gifts for both of you,” says Mom.
“We know you don’t understand If yet, but these gifts are
very important and they will help you to get what you
want,’ Dad says.
“Why are they importante” ask Ella and Andy.
“These gifts are important because they will help you to
learn about money,” says Mom.
“People who don’t know about money, and how to use
it wisely, can end up sad, angry or sick and may not even
be able to buy food.
“We don't want that to happen to you, so it’s time you
learn how to use your money wisely.”
“But why did you give us each
three piggy banks instead of
one¢” Andy asks.
“What a good question!” Mom says.
“But first we need to name our piggy banks.
Let's call them Saving, Sharing and Spending.”
10
“From now on, every week, your dad and |
will give you an allowance of three dollars
each,” Mom explains.
“When you get your allowance, you can use
all of it to buy things that you want. Or you
can do something that is much more fun.‘
Mom suggests that they use the three little piggy banks this
way: One dollar goes in Saving, one dollar goes in Sharing,
and one dollar goes in Spending.
“This way, you can learn an important skill—how to use your
money wisely,” Dad says.
12
“This skill will helo you when you grow up and start earning
your own money,’ says Dad.
“Really?” The twins are getting excited.
“Then let’s start!”
“The best way to use your piggy banks is to have
goals,” says Mom.
“We know you want a bicycle,” Dad tells Andy. “Your
goal is to save five dollars. If you can save five dollars,
we'll add some more and help you buy your bike.”
“Ella, we know you want a camera,” Mom says.
“Your goal is to save five dollars, too. If you can save
five dollars, we'll help you buy one.”
Andy and Ella aren’t sure. If they save, it will take
weeks until they can get their gifts. But, they look at
each other and say, “Okay. We will give it a try.”
“A fun way to remember why we are saving is to
decorate our Saving piggy banks with pictures of
what we're saving up for,” explains Mom.
Anay and Ella decorate their piggy banks
with stickers. Andy puts stickers of bikes on
his, and Ella puts stickers of cameras on hers.
7
“When we are saving for a goal, it’s important
to keep track of how much we're saving,” Mom
explains.
“To do that, we will use a worksheet and stars.
When we want to know how much money there Is
inside the piggy banks, we just need to count the
number of stars.”
“Here, let’s do one together!” Mom says, “This Is
how you place stars on your worksheets.”
Their goal is to have five stars each. Mom shows
them how to do it.
“What about sharing?” Andy asks.
“Remember when you both donated toys last Christmas?”
Dad says. “That's sharing. Now that you have your own
money, you can use it to help others.
“| share some of my money with a family in another country
so they can buy food and medicine. Mom shares her
money to help other moms who are in need,” Dad says.
20
“My friend Vin is sick a lof, could | share my money to
helo hime” Andy says.
“Mommy, You said some people can't buy food,” Ella
says. “Could | helo them with my money?”
“You two are so sweet,’ Mom says with a smile.
ae
Mom shows them how to use the Sharing
piggy banks.
“You'll put money in your Sharing piggy
bank every week. When you have five
stars, you can share the money, or you can
wait longer and give more money. How
does that sound?” Mom asks.
“Okay,” both Ella and Andy agree.
“When you put money in your Sharing
piggy banks, we'll put a star on your
worksheet like this,” Mom says as she points
to the star on the worksheet.
“But what if we want to buy
something for ourselves¢” Andy asks.
“That's what the Spending piggy
bank Is for, Dad replies.
Pe mMeney VOU PICGCIIs/OUlis iiss
Spending piggy bank can be used to
buy whatever you want.”
24
“So if | put one dollar in my
Spending piggy bank, can
LBUY COM valiGmeosis onic
dollar¢” Ella asks.
“Surel” Dad says.
“| know. I'll get the purple
ones | like! They're only a
dollar each!” exclaims Ella.
26
“But what if |want to buy stickerse” Andy asks.
“They're two dollars.”
“You'll have to wait two weeks then,” Dad answers.
“Oh,” Andy replies. He’s sad that
he can’t get his stickers right
away, but they look cool.
“| guess they're worth the wait.”
“That's right,” Mom says.
ay
“We will do the same thing with our
Spending piggy banks as we did with the |
other two,” says Mom.
She then picks up a pencil and explains,
“We will put a star on your worksheet every _
—=
time you put a dollar in, but when YOU take 7
out a dollar, we willl help you cross outa
star with an X.”
28 “see
Andy and Ella aren't sure at first, but after five weeks,
they save up five dollars in their Sav ING PIGGY banks.
They go wi th Mom and Dad to the store, and have
30
a lot of fun choosing the best bike and camera they
can afford. They feel proud that they saved up their own
money and helped to buy their gifts.
Anay sees his friend Vin a lot more. Vin becomes
healthier. Andy is happy his Sharing money is helping
his friend.
OZ
Ella collects lots of money in her Sharing piggy bank. She
goes with her mom to buy food. She loves dropping off
the food at the food bank.
33
Ella and Andy are happy that they now know how to
use their money.
They try to think of different things that they can save
for, and more ways to share their money.
34
And, of course, they love spending money on treats
and stickers.
39
“We can SAVE for the things we want,” Ella says.
“We can SHARE to help our friends and others,” says
Andy.
“And we can SPEND our money on fun things,” both
exclaim.
36
Sociale
ses Spica put tae
What would you SAVE for?
Who would you SHARE with?
And what would you SPEND on¢
Will you join us¢
y/
Three Little Piggy Banks Worksheet
(Write yourname in the space below.)
SAVING
My savings goal:
SHARING
My sharing goal:
SPENDING
My spending goal:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pamela George was born in Trinidad
and Tobago and now lives in Ottawa,
Canada. From a childhood of poverty
and growing up with an illiterate single
mother, Pamela knows firsthand how
education can be the key to breaking
the cycle of poverty and abuse.
Pamela has more than 8 years’
experience working in the financial
field. Prior to her current job as a
Credit Counsellor, Pamela worked as
a Financial Aid Officer with Algonquin
College. Pamela is an Accredited
Financial Counsellor of Canada (AFCC) Author Pamela George
designee (Photo by Robert Christian)
Pamela's passion is to help people, especially at a young age, to build strong
and lifelong financial literacy skills. This book is one of the many ways that
Pamela does this.
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