Benny’s Pennies
This is a story about a boy who spends his five pennies buying gifts for his family. He encounters producers: a woman cutting roses, a girl baking cookies, a boy making paper hats, a fisherman catching fish, and a butcher cutting meat. He discovers the resources they used to produce each gift, and he makes a purchase from each of them.
Economic Concepts
- Wants
- Consumers
- Scarcity
- Natural Resources
- Human Resources
- Capital Resources
- Intermediate Goods
- Buyers and Sellers
- Goods and Services
- Money
- Barter
- Price
- Spending
Grade Levels
- Primary (K-3)
Teacher Tips for Using this Book
Online Lesson, Benny’s Pennies (from Kids Econ Books):
http://www.kidseconbooks.com/html/benny_s_pennies.html
Students read the book and discuss the economics concepts through a set of questions and answers.
Description of lesson from Spotting Economics: From Africa to Ice Cream, Lesson 2: Students play a card game to explore the kinds of resources used to produce the gifts Benny gave.
Gallagher, S., & Hopkins, M. C. (2003). Spotting economics: from Africa … to ice cream! Richmond, VA: EconFun.