Consumer Financial

Protection Bureau

MONEY AS YOU GROW BOOK CLUB

Parent reading guide for 

“Curious George Saves 

His Pennies” 

by Margaret and H.A. Rey

 Ages 4–7
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Welcome

This guide will help you teach your child money management 

skills while reading “Curious George Saves His Pennies” by 

Margaret and H.A. Rey. It will do this by:

 Helping you explain the key ideas covered in the book, and 

then providing you with signs your child understands the key 

ideas and can use them in daily life. 

 Giving you things to think about before reading the book 

with your child. These can help you spot key points in the 

book or spark ideas to discuss later.

Helping you prepare for an enjoyable reading time with 

your child.

 Providing questions to talk about with your child.

 Suggesting activities that help your child put ideas and 

lessons into action.

Parent reading guide | Ages 4–7
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The story

Curious George wants to buy a toy train at a local 

toy store. The man with the yellow hat suggests 

that George save money for the train. When 

George reaches his goal, he loses all his money on 

the way to the toy store.
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 Key ideas

By the time you finish this discussion guide, your child will be 

able to point to examples of these key ideas in the book you 

read and discuss real-life examples, too. Use these definitions to 

explain the ideas. We’ve also included ways children can show 

they are ready to use them in their daily lives.

1. Making decisions

Many times there are different ways to use money. Taking 

the time to ask questions, learn about different choices, and 

compare what’s good and bad about each one helps you reach 

good decisions.

How kids show it: They can look at a few choices and select one 

that will bring the best results.

2. Sharing and borrowing

There are two kinds of sharing: Something shared that does not 

have to be returned or paid for is a gift. Something borrowed or 

lent must be returned.

How kids show it: They can explain the difference between 

lending and giving something away.
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3. Self-control

Sometimes we can’t have what we want right away and we need 

to wait. Choosing not to spend money can sometimes be a 

good decision.

How kids show it: They can talk about times when they were 

able to wait and how they were able to do it.
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 Something to think about

First, read the book yourself and think about these ideas:

§ Young children may be confused when the goal is to buy a 

gift for a friend. It is hard for children to give a gift they want 

themselves. What do you tell your child about gift giving and 

doing something nice for someone else?

§ Curious George saved his allowance, found money around 

the house, and did odd jobs to make money. This helped him 

reach his goal to save $5 more quickly so he didn’t have to 

wait as long.

§ He left his piggy bank on the bench. That wasn’t a good idea, 

but little monkeys (like children, and even adults) sometimes 

forget and lose things.

§ Curious George decided “Good deeds deserve to be 

rewarded.” There are many ways to show gratitude when 

someone does something nice for us, such as saying thank 

you or sharing.
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Before you read

Read the book first yourself. Knowing the story will help you know 

what comes next. It is important to ask your child questions about 

the story as you read. Ask what might happen next in the story.

§ Choose a quiet time for stories and make it part of your 

daily routine. 

§ Find a cozy, quiet place to read. 

§ Make sure your child can see the pictures. 

§ Talk about the pictures and characters in the book.

§ Read with expression in your voice. Give each character 

in the story his or her own voice. 

§ Keep the story time short enough to leave them wanting more.

§ Look for ways during the day to bring up the messages in 

the story.

§ Continue to read aloud together even if your child can 

read alone.
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 Something to talk about

Before you begin to read the story with your child, look at the 

cover of the book together. Ask what the story might be about.

As you read the story with your child, talk about these ideas:

§ When Curious George was in the toy store, he saw many 

things. What kinds of toys did he see? What was his favorite?

§ When Curious George found the train and showed the man in 

the yellow hat, what did the man tell George?

§ Waiting for something we want is hard to do, and George had 

to wait to buy the train until he had enough money.

§ At the birthday party, Noah let all his friends play with his new 

hula hoop. Do you ever share your toys with others?

§ Curious George wanted to save money quickly so that he 

didn’t have to wait so long to buy the train. What did George 

do to get more money?

§ Curious George jumped into his raked pile of leaves. It was 

fun, but then what did he have to do next?

§ George saved enough money to buy his train and was on his 

way to the toy store when he stopped to help other children 

at the park. What did George do with his piggy bank?
8 MONEY AS YOU GROW BOOK CLUB | Curious George Saves His Pennies

§ George could not find his piggy bank on the park bench. 

Have you ever lost anything?

§ Have you ever found anything that someone else had lost? 

What did you do with it?

§ What did George do to thank Hana for keeping his bank safe? 

When other people help you, how do you thank them?
9 MONEY AS YOU GROW BOOK CLUB | Curious George Saves His Pennies

 Something to do

Practice patience Ages 4+

Here are a few ideas and everyday activities to help your child 

learn to wait for something they want.

§ Plant some seeds in a cup or in a garden, and wait for them to 

grow. Together, take care of the seeds to help them grow.

§ Plan something special with your child, like a play date or 

trip to the park. For this activity, you need some scrap paper, 

scissors, and glue or tape. Together, make a paper chain 

with a number of links for each day until the special event 

happens. Every day, tear off one link. When you are down to 

one link, the special day is here!

§ If your young child wants something while shopping and can’t 

have it, try different ways to distract him or her. You can play 

the “I wish” game that goes like: “I wish we had all the toys 

in this store. Wouldn’t that be fun? We could play with them 

for days and days. How many toys do you think are in this 

store?” Or you can distract from the “gimmes” by refocusing 

attention: “How many colors do you see in this package?” 

or “There are a lot of toys in this aisle. How many can you 

count?”

§ Model patience for your child and talk about waiting for 

something you want. “I sure would like to get a new coat. This 

coat fits me fine for now. Maybe I’ll look at new coats after 

they go on sale.”
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Making decisions Ages 5+

Sit down as a family and create a “family fun” list for winter, 

spring, summer, and fall. Write down all the activities that your 

family likes to do together. Some activities are free, like going 

for a walk or playing a game, and some activities cost money. If 

you have a calendar, write down some of the free activities and 

when you will do these as a family.

For the fun activities that cost money, like going out to eat or 

renting a movie, talk about ways to do the fun activities for less 

money. For example, talk about going on a picnic and packing 

food from home or getting a movie from the library. Next, 

figure out how much money your family needs to save for the 

fun activity and how you will save. For example, when you’re 

shopping, talk about what you decide not to buy and how that 

helps save money for your family fun goal.
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About this guide

The Money as You Grow Book Club is a research-based program 

designed to help parents, caregivers, and others teach children 

ages 4 through 10 money skills through reading, activities, and play. 

The Money as You Grow Book Club is an updated version of 

the University of Nevada Extension’s Money on the Bookshelf 

program. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), The 

University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Financial Security, 

and the University of Wisconsin-Extension Family Living Programs 

have worked together to expand the program and make it 

available to libraries, educators, and parents nationally. 

The CFPB is an independent federal agency. We write and 

enforce rules that keep banks and other financial companies 

operating fairly. We also help educate and empower 

consumers. For more about tools and resources for parents, visit 

consumerfinance.gov/MoneyAsYouGrow. 

The Center for Financial Security is a research center that seeks 

to help the public build financial knowledge and skills, increase 

access to financial services and increase the financial security 

of families. The University of Wisconsin-Extension is part of the 

National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) Cooperative 

Extension System, which brings vital, practical information to 

agricultural producers, small business owners, consumers, 

families, and young people.
To learn more about the Money as You Grow Book 

Club, or download other parent reading guides, visit 

consumerfinance.gov/MoneyAsYouGrow.

MONEY AS YOU GROW BOOK CLUB

Ask about these other Money as You Grow Book Club books and 

parent guides. ISBNs for paperback versions are included below:

Consumer Financial

Protection Bureau November | 2016

Count on Pablo

by Barbara deRubertis

ISBN # 9781575650906

Cuenta con Pablo

by Barbara deRubertis

ISBN # 9781575651514

Lemonade in Winter

by Emily Jenkins

ISBN # 9780375858833

My Rows and Piles of 

Coins

by Tololwa M. Mollel

ISBN # 9780395751862

Those Shoes

by Maribeth Boelts

ISBN # 9780763642846

Tia Isa Wants a Car

by Meg Medina

ISBN # 9780763657529

Tía Isa Quiere un Carro

by Meg Medina

ISBN # 9780606238014

The Rag Coat

by Lauren Mills

ISBN # 9780316574075