A cute book to show how money works. Ruby and max go on a cute little adventure to get a gift for grandma and spend money along the way. I’m not entirely a huge of Max and Ruby picture books, but I did like that it showed a common sense and easy way to introduce the concept of spending money. ( )

I enjoyed the books by Rosemary Wells. I feel like they are drawn beautifully and the text is simple so that early readers can read it and follow the story without much difficulty. "Bunny Money" did something interesting with the text when it came to showing how much money was spent. Along with writing out the amount they spent, it also showed a picture of what the got and the amount of dollars they spent. At the bottom of the page, it showed how much money they still had. This is extremely important for kids to see to try and help them understand the value of money; a concept that can seem fairly abstract to a child. ( )

This is a really great book to introduce students to money and how it is spent. I really like how the author illustrates money in the wording of the book. I think by the author showing Ruby’s wallet, it helps the reader to understand that the money is gone because it is being spent. Hopefully by reading this book to students, they will grasp some concept of the value of a dollar. I would recommend this book for grades 1-3. ( )

Max and Ruby have money, and they need to go out and buy a birthday gift. Max keeps spending the money on other things, and by the time they get to buy the item they are looking for, it is 5x more than the money they started out with. They picked out another gift and went home. ( )

Max and Ruby go into town to buy their grandmother a birthday present. But they find their money is quickly spent on things like bus fare, lunch, etc. Can they still get Grandma a gift she will love?

I must admit that Max and Ruby are a cartoon pair I never got into, although I know plenty of children love them and their antics. This book also struck me as a bit too didactic with its lessons on spending money wisely and learning basic subtraction. But that being said, I shared this book with a few different kids, ranging in age from 5 to 8, and they all seemed to enjoy it. I was even asked to read it again. So apparently something strikes a chord with the young ones, even if I personally didn't like it.

The illustration style is not one I prefer and, as I said, the story is a bit too much focused on teaching rather than plot. However, it could be useful as one tool to talk about money and/or mathematics in a classroom or at home. ( )