“Bunny Money,” by Rosemary Wells (Dial Books; 1997; $14.99); The Bunny Money Game (International Playthings; $19.95) If you think it’s time your deadbeat 4-year-old learned responsibility, this book-and-game combination can start him off easy. In the book, bunny sibs Max and Ruby go shopping for Grandma’s birthday. But Max snacks his way to the store and runs through all their cash. The game winner is the one who finishes first with a present for Grandma.
The Allowance Kit (World of Money; $29.99; 800-367-2548) This clever bank demonstrates the difference between spending, saving and investing. It looks like three colorful books on a shelf; each “book” is a bank that kids can customize with stickers to illustrate their short-, medium- and long-term goals like candy, skateboard, college. The long-term bank “locks” with a hard-to-remove plastic strip that makes it difficult to get at its contents.
U.S. Commemorative State Quarters Collectors Map (Coinmap.com; $14.95) This handsome cardboard map of the United States has slots for those quarters honoring the 50 states that are starting to show up in your change. It’s a smart way to combine a little bit of history and geography with some rudimentary coin collecting.
Gazillionaire Deluxe ($29.99); Zapitalism Deluxe ($34); Profitania Deluxe ($39.99)(Lavamind.com) “Addictive without the violence” is the way the creator of this trilogy of fantasy-simulation games describes them. Players trade commodities, buy and sell stocks, borrow money, make widgets, collect rent, bargain with unions and worry about very strange weather as they move among galaxies, fantasy islands and underground vistas.
One Share of Stock (Frameastock.com; 888-ONE-STOCK)
“The Book of Investing Wisdom,” by Peter Krass (John Wiley & Sons; 1999; $29.99)
