Jenny Found a Penny

Math Is Fun!

by Trudy Harris, John Hovell (Illustrator)

The reader can help Jenny count her pennies--and nickels and dimes and quarters--as she saves the money to buy herself a very special present.

Genres: Mathematics, Money, Picture Books, Childrens

29 pages, Library Binding

First published October 1, 2007

About the author

Trudy Harris, RN, is the New York Times bestselling author of Glimpses of Heaven and More Glimpses of Heaven, a former hospice nurse, and former president of the Hospice Foundation for Caring. Since retirement, Harris remains active in connecting the need

Reviews

[Bridget H · Rating 5 out of 5]

My dad is the illustrator and he ROCKS!

[Alexa Maring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Use this book while students are given money/coin manipulatives to figure out how much money Jenny found and earned while saving up for an object she wanted from the dollar store. Have the students collect the same coins as Jenny and periodically stop to have the students count the total amount saved. Because this book discusses tax, this would be a perfect opportunity to introduce the concept to your students. Having enough money for an item is not enough. Through tax the price is increased, but not noted on the price tag. How disappointing this would be to a child like Jenny who saved all their money and though they could buy what they wanted. Teaching tax to the students will allow them to become knowledgable about shopping.

[The Library Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

A neat little story about how Jenny saves her coins to buy something special. The coins are shown full size on the side so children can identify them and count them up. The text has a nice bouncy rhyme to it, the bold artwork )reminiscent of Donald Crews style) is attractive and eye catching and the plot has several nice final twists. This will be useful in school and at home for kids learning about coins, but it could also just be read for the fun of it--and that's what good books are all about.

[Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter insisted on ownership of her very own piggy bank after this delightful book was read to her.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book because my name is Jenny, but it just didn't work too well for me. I think this is an excellent book for preschoolers to identify money - I like how it is printed on the sides of the page as she finds it. Here's what could have been better: this may be the first time a child is introduced to a fifty-cent piece and it's not explained in any detail. This gives the parent or teacher an opportunity to further explain with additional resources including possibly showing a real 50-cent piece. I thought it was great that Jenny was using a pickle jar to keep her change. When she used change to purchase a plastic pig, I thought well...recycling was better and the pig is plastic...so I didn't like that part but that was just personal. Also, I have worked as a cashier for 23 years...any cashier would have paid the tax for the child or scooped pennies from the take-a-penny tray for the child. I don't really like how the cashier was illustrated as a stern adult, but I understand the lesson it was trying to bring to light. Thirdly, I assume the pickle jar was glass....you have a young child and her sister crawling on the floor after a glass jar broke...it's not very safe. For the purpose of introducing different coins and their value, I think it is a good read. I love when math is in books.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great way to teach kids about money and the worth of each amount and how to add the coins to the amount previously saved.
The coin pictures on the side of every page helps kiddos to count the change that is being saved.

100% recommend this book be added to every school library and read to kiddos. Great for parents to own to teach the habit of saving for what you want to buy.

Bundle the book and a piggy bank and it would make a great gift!

[Ellie Vasas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute poetry counting book. I think it teaches good concepts about working hard and saving for something you want. I didn't love the art style. It looked like it was designed online on a computer. I think it also does a good job about teaching how sometimes things don't always go the way we plan.I do like when it has the coins occasionally on the panel so that you can count along.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Jenny finds a penny, it's the beginning of her quest to work and save up her coins until she has a dollar to purchase something special. As Jenny saves her coins, it allows the reader to count along as Jenny moves closer to her goal.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just okay....

[Johna Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jenny is a girl that wanted to buy a Piggy bank. She did not have enough money so she had to earn her money by helping others. She found some extra money, enough to get the Piggy bank that she always wanted. First, I read the story “Jenny found a Penny”. As I read the story, I allowed the students to use paper money to figure out Jennys total amount of money. This was a great idea because an ELL student were able to recognize the paper coins when seeing them, instead of just hearing the name of the coin. Next, I allowed the students to add the money and explain their reasoning. While reading the story, I asked questions to better help the children understand. The students were allowed to make predictions. For example, in one part of the story, Jenny dropped her coin jar. When Jenny dropped her jar full of coins, the money spilled on the sidewalk. So, I asked the question “How do you think Jenny felt when she spilled her coins? Would you feel the same way?” “What do you predict will happen next?” “What do you think Jenny is saving her money for?” The students shared their thoughts about the incident. As a teacher I will take notes of the predictions so that we could see whether our predictions were correct. I will explain to my students that our predictions will change as we continue reading. Predictions change with the more information you receive. We will discuss and share our thoughts as a class.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to introduce money to children. It talk about how 5 pennies equal a nickel and it keeps going with all the other coins. Also, it talks about when you buy items in the store, you have to pay for tax. Introducing children early on to tax, would help them. That way if they buy something they know is a dollar and they save a dollar, they won't have enough money to buy it. You could do a math lesson on coins and then have a store set up and have the children come buy the items from you.

[Kaylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book would be a great way to teach children about money and the worth of each amount and even how to add it together. It has a good story and the artwork is a lot of fun. One thing that I think would be fun to do is get with the parents and let them know what we are doing and have them do what the story does. It isn't too confusing and I really like the fact that the change is on the side so every page you can count the change again. This is definitely a book I would want to use in my classroom if I was teaching my children about money.

[Jennica Crockett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. The main reason I liked it was the story line provided a good opportunity for teaching children money. They could have their own play money and play along with the story to count how much money Jenny had. I also liked the fact that the coins were displayed on the side to help show how much Jenny was collecting. It is a great book to use when introducing money values and counting money.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute book. I would love to do more with this book have an extension activity of the kids using pretend money and learning what each is worth. After learning I would read the book as an extension and have the kids come up with something they would want to buy and how much it would be and then for the kids to be able to figure out how much money it would be and what they could do to get that. Also teach them about saving gives more.

[Kristin Waitkus]

Great book to use to teach saving and counting money. I read this story with my 2nd graders and had them count the coins using a worksheet. Each time Jenny earned money the kids would count up the money. They had a great time keeping track of how much money Jenny earned. If I was going to read this story again I would have the kids write their own stories to go with the idea of saving money.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun, rhyming tale about counting change and the realities of sales tax. Our girls love the Dollar store, but they could empathize with Jenny's shock about having to pay more than a dollar for each item. The narrative is fun to read aloud and the illustrations are colorful, if a bit too digital for my tastes. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[Ashley Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great for both counting money and stating the importance of saving your money. Saving a little bit of money can really add up. I enjoyed how this mathematic picture book was in story form. Who knew math could be fun!

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jenny found a penny this got her off and running to save some more money. This would be a good book for learning coins and their value.

[Jade Saleem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent way to teach children about math!!!! Great read aloud

[Ayana Mishelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shows the coins in their actual size , great book to teach children to identify coins and to learn about tax on the items they purchase.

[Abby Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute book

[Rima Halig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was a great math lesson for my students. Allow them to "find" the coins jenny finds in the classroom. This helps them with learning the worth of coins in an interactive way.

[April Scheivelhud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for the first-grade level about coin recognition. Jenny wants to save up her pennies to buy a special toy, but something happens at the end. Great read aloud story.

[Candace Carr]

I would use this book with money manipulatives to show students how much money penny earned each time. It could also be used to introduce different kinds of coins

[Jeanette Jesselton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

[Samantha Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book to learn math with coins and learning the value of coins. However, I think it should be used for kids who are older, younger kids would get easily confused as the book goes on.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jenny keeps coins that she finds. The coins are on the page full size so kids can identify them. The book also teaches the value of a dollar and how people earn money (i.e. chores).

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a cute short story about a girl saving the penny she found.