Economics through Infographics

Super Social Studies Infographics

by Karen Latchana Kenney

Trying to process economic information can leave you at a loss. You need to understand the connections in global markets (where was your cell phone made?), the crazy variety of currencies (from dollars to kronor), and the high stakes of spending (wants versus needs).

How can all these statistics and concepts make more sense? Infographics! The charts, maps, and illustrations in this book tell a visual story to help you better understand key concepts about economics. Crack open this book to explore mind-boggling questions such

• How do people buy and sell things without money?
• What makes it hard to find a job?
• How do people use their resources to turn big ideas into big business?

The answers will be worth a lot to you!

Genres: Nonfiction, Economics, Business, Juvenile, Childrens

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Karen Latchana Kenney is an Indian-Irish children’s author, born near the equator in Guyana, and raised far north in Minnesota. Her debut picture book SNOW STEPS launched in November 2024 and was a 2025 Minnesota Book Awards Finalist and a 2025 Pedro and Daniel Intersectionality Book Award Finalist.

She writes both fiction and nonfiction stories about immigrant and biracial experiences, scientific discoveries, momentous historical events, and civil rights struggles. Her newest YA nonfiction book, FASCINATING FUNGI, launches in October 2025 from Lerner Publishing. Kirkus gave it a starred review, saying it is "An extraordinarily well-researched, well-presented, and visually appealing book on a fascinating subject."

Her other children's books have received several starred reviews and have been named a 2023 Mathical Book Prize Honor, and a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers.

She lives in Minnetonka, Minnesota, with her family, where they explore all the wild places they can find.

Reviews

[Rich Farrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a little chuckle at how in one infographic it compared the realities of a communist economy with a rosy view of a capitalist economy as a fair 1:1 account, but I didn't expect much more from a text aimed at tweens. Overall, this has been the best in the series with some basic explanations of supply and demand, etc. that I'll probably use when we do texts around the Great Depression.

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[TK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colorful and interesting way to read about a subject that can easily be daunting and confusing. Clearly a children's introduction to the subject, it provides the basics for multiple ideas that form a clear foundation. Short and very graphic heavy it obviously uses illustrations and the least amount of text possible to present concepts.
arc from NetGalley

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

ECONOMICS THROUGH INFOGRAPHICS by Karen Latchana Kenney is the newest book in the SUPER SOCIAL STUDIES INFOGRAPHICS series aimed at upper elementary school youth. Economics is an aspect of the social studies curriculum that can be difficult for youth to understanding. Visual representations are an effective way to convey key concepts related to trade, currency, spending, markets, and business. In this work of nonfiction for youth, the author uses “the money trail” to help readers understand how the cycle of money works. Questioning is woven into the text to stimulate student thinking. Blocks of text introduce key concepts and useful examples. While many of the examples explore topics connected to the every-day world such as iPhones, others are connected to social studies topics like the fur trade. From Australia to Israel, examples are provided from around the world.[return][return]The author points out that professional economists use graphic elements to convey their ideas. Illustrator Steven Stankiewicz uses infographics to present the key concepts visually. Bright, attractive colors will immediately attract readers. A wide variety of visuals are incorporated including pictograms, charts, concept maps, flowcharts, timelines, and maps. [return][return]Like any book focusing on economics, the book is likely to become dated in a few years. For instance, a section discussing the minimum wage ends with data from 2010, a dated flip phone is used as an example, and the cost of services like movies are likely to change. However, the book should remain current for the life of the book.[return][return]The book concludes with an index, further information, and a glossary. Other books in the series focus on culture, geography, government, and history.[return][return]To learn more about integrating infographics into the school library, check out two new articles in Teacher Librarian.[return][return]Lamb, Annette & Johnson, Larry (April 2014). Infographics Part 1: Invitations to Inquiry. Teacher Librarian, 41(4), 54-58. [return][return]Lamb, Annette & Johnson, Larry (June 2014). Infographics Part 2: Practical Ideas for Your Library. Teacher Librarian, 41(5), 64-67.

[Amy Alvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely a book that I would like to add to my teacher library as it covers several of the topics that I have to cover for both my 5th and 6th graders.

~fur trade and how the fur was traded for good like clothes, blankets and sugar.
~gives and example of 2 types of economies and how they worked differently
~why we need to exchange money when making purchases in other countries
~supply and demand
~how the assembly line increased production
~exports and imports
~how jobs have changed over time according to the country's needs
~global economy and how prices are different all over the world
~minimum wage

The examples in the book are made with products that your students will be familiar with, therefore making it relevant to them. The graphics by Steven Stankiewicz are very colorful and will hold the attention of my students.

Thanks go out to Lerner Publications via NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange of an honest review.

[Am Y · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the other Infographics book on Geography by this same author and it was a lot better than this one.

The problem with this book is some infographics present confusing and disorganised data and information. E.g. On one of the infographics showing human figures and employment, the reader is asked to compare how employment has changed over the years. But the employment types are not classified under the same groupings, and the percentages are not given in ascending order (i.e. you could get 20% followed by 50% followed by 12% for instance).

Also a huge glaring error on one of the pages: the capital of Denmark is named as "Oslo". Should the country in question have been "Oslo, Norway", or "Copenhagen, Denmark"? We'll never know.

Lastly, while I did find the content interesting and topics discussed worthy of being highlighted, their presentation seemed a bit haphazard and not as well thought through as other book in this same series that I read.

[Jaymie · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I received a review copy of this from the publisher)
I am a huge fan of infographics - I am a visual learner and I enjoy learning new information in such a visual way. This volume in the series explains things like minimum wage, currency, manufacturing changes through automation, imports/exports, etc.

This is a series I have never seen in person before, but one I have wondered about for our school library. After seeing this volume in person, I feel great about ordering the whole series for my students.

[Heather Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Economics is a great and underserved topic for students to explore. Using infographics is a great way to explore this important topic and one that I think kids will enjoy. The picures were great and the ideas covered were ones kids will be very interested in. My students are from all over the world and so the international equivalents will be very interesting to them. My only criticism is that I would LOVE more information (like 30 pages more), because my students will fly through this book and have lots of questions to ask me that I will not be able to answer.

[Jaime · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I nerded out on this non fiction series on infographics for juveniles over the weekend, and it's alright. The best is Economics, the worst is World Geograpy (which probably should have been called Climate Change through inforgrpahics). A lot of the infographics were confusing and required quite a bit of explaing to understand - defeating the purpose of an infographic. But...they are visiually really appealing books, and I can see how a casual browser as well as kids that are really into lists of facts would enjoy these.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very well done. So well done in fact, it was hard to believe it was over. I would have kept reading. The information is given in a friendly way, terms are explained, and the infografics are perfect for what information they are trying to present.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC supplied by publisher via NetGalley

[Marisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would be a great book to have in the classroom! I plan on adding it to the school library and sharing it with the teachers I know!

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colorful display of information in this series. Interesting economics shared through various infographics.