Lily Learns about Wants and Needs

Cloverleaf Books ™ - Money Basics

by Lisa Bullard, Christine Schneider (Illustrations)

Lily wants a new bike. And a new raincoat. And ice cream. But how many of these things does she need? As Lily and her dad drive around town, Lily soon discovers that wants and needs are different things. She picks out which things people have to have. She might even remind her dad that he doesn't need root beer!

Genres: Nonfiction, Picture Books, Money, Childrens

24 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 2013

About the author

Lisa Bullard is the award-winning author of more than sixty books for children, including the middle grade mystery Turn Left at the Cow. She is also the author of the how-to guide Get Started in Writing for Children. Her books for younger readers include picture books and nonfiction titles such as Trick-or-Treat on Milton Street and You Can Write a Story: A Story-Writing Recipe for Kids. Her books have won several honors, including a Children’s Choice Award, two Teacher’s Choice Awards, a Science Books & Films’ Best Books listing, a National Parenting Publications Children's Resources Silver Award, and a Storytelling World Awards Honor Title. For over fifteen years, Lisa has taught writing classes for adults and young people at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis and in a variety of other settings. Lisa is a graduate of the University of Denver’s Publishing Institute.

Reviews

[AnnDee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book teaches about the difference between wants and needs. As Lily and her dad drive around running errands together, they discuss the things that Lily wants, but then decide if she really needs them. She knows that she needs to exercise to keep her body healthy, but she realizes she doesn’t need a new bike to do so, she just wants one. This book is a good way to also teach young kids about spending money. It is important that they realize we must get the things that we need first, and then maybe we can get a few of the things that we want later. The book has some fun quizzes throughout and an answer key complete with a glossary at the end. My favorite part about this book is the activity at the end: Make a Needs and Wants poster. Helping students to actively create their own poster and prioritize their thoughts could be a beneficial activity. This book makes you stop and be grateful for the things that you have. I would use this book in my classroom when discussing the hierarchy of needs, or for younger children, when teaching about choices we have to make and how to do so.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does an excellent job of showcasing needs verses wants from a child point of view. This is an important concept for children to understand because this is how the real world works and sometimes you only have the means to get the things you need and not the things you want so you must make a choice. The parent in this book does an excellent job of showing the difference between the two with lots of different scenarios. In addition to this the book is written out very nicely and would be perfect to read to a class as an activity. It allows spots for the children to reflect on what they just read.

[Zoey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great way to teach kids about wants vs needs. I like that there are questions to ask in addition to the story. I really enjoyed the end where it talks about how if you still have money left over you can do something fun and special. I think this is also a good reminder for adults too, we often spend money on things we want first and need later, but that is backwards. A good story and a fun way to learn something new.

[Krease Gansen]

Lily wants a new bike, and her dad lets her know that this time they are only getting the items they need. I’m hungry and I need ice cream. Dad informs her that ice cream is a treat, and they can get healthy snacks on the way home. At the store, dad follows the list. They skip the root beer. Then, they pick up mom who works the hospital. Then they talk about when want are okay. At the end there is an idea to have a want and needs graph.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book for parents to read with their younger children to help them learn about the difference between wants and needs. Books like this really help to set a foundation of financial literacy for children.

The narrative is short and the illustrations are colorful. I would recommend this book for children in early elementary school grades, and even though it was a bit young for our girls, we enjoyed reading it together anyway. We followed this book with a discussion about the wants and needs in our own lives.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars because my two year old really loved this

[Mollie B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non-fiction perfect for storytime.