Five children get busy earning funds to build a clubhouse in this primer on U.S. currency. Starting with a penny—good for "a perfect penny nail"—they pool resources as they industriously gather recyclable bottles, set up a lemonade stand and more; each project escalates the income, from a nickel to a dime to a quarter to, ultimately, a $100 bill. McMahon's cartoons depict not only a cadre of boisterous young entrepreneurs laboring in a sunny suburban setting, but the front and back of each coin or bill, plus views of the hardware or other supplies that each would buy. These values may be already behind the inflationary times, but the designs are current enough to include the new fiver, and the clubhouse does get built. Robinson closes with notes on both how our money's look changes regularly and also on skipped denominations: the 50-cent piece; the $1 coin and the $2 bill. Promoting the rewards of work along with exposing readers to the look and uses of money, plus a bit of arithmetic, this makes salutary reading on more than one level. (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-8) Read full book review >
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