Well, now I'm torn. I read these in my 20s and loved them. I still love them, but reading them out loud with my own preschooler was different. Cuz we don't say "stupid," that's why. Or "dumb," or "hate." At least not yet. And so now I better understand the parents whose objections I always shrugged off.

2017 update: Snagged the audiobook collection to listen to in the van and it's going better this time around.

Up til 2 a.m. reading it in one go because I had to know what was going to happen. It was good but the 2nd was better.

I thought this was useful, especially read in tandem with "The Opposite of Spoiled." "Spoiled" is written by a financial journalist, and isn't written as a how-to--it's more a discussion of the issues and includes examples of what some families are doing. This one gets into specific recommendations on introducing kids to money, savings, giving, and how that can look at different ages.

Their suggestions make sense to me:

1. Pay kids 3-5 years old a "commission" for doing certain jobs around the house. (Note: I don't care as much about the "allowance vs commission" semantic argument Ramsey and Cruze make, but I do agree that it's smart to teach kids from the get-go that money comes from work.)

2. At 6+, up the jobs & introduce the concept of splitting earnings into spending, saving, and giving envelopes.

3. At 14, help them open a checking account and teach them how to use a debit card, write checks, and keep a budget. Consider depositing the money for monthly expenses like school lunches, school clothes, activity fees, etc. in there so it becomes their responsibility. The idea is that by the time they leave home, you know they can handle money and live within a budget.

They talk a LOT about college debt and how insane it has become, and recommend you avoid it at all costs. They recommend being up-front about what you can/will contribute and guide your child to choose a college he or she can afford to graduate from debt-free (which can mean starting at a community college, or going to a good state school, or a private school on scholarships, whatever). Some of the stories they tell about student loan debt, and others from people I've heard call in to the Dave Ramsey show, have made me a believer. It seems that the landscape is VERY different than it was when I was in school, so I'm not as "hey, that's what student loans are for" as I used to be.

It was time to re-read this one. First read it back in 2009 when I had a full-time job and no kids. Needed another shot of the Dave Ramsey Kool-Aid, as Janssen would say! ;-)

Quick, interesting read, but not mind-blowing. Lieber doesn't really give any hard & fast rules for things like how much of an allowance to give, etc. But he does use lots of examples from families who are trying to raise kids who have a better understanding about money, privilege, working, and giving. He says we are naturally reticent to talk about money or to disclose finances to our kids for a variety of reasons, but kids are curious about money and will try to find answers--answers that may not be accurate or that may cause them to reach the wrong conclusions. So it's better to bite the bullet and talk about stuff in an age-appropriate way.

This was one of my favorites of the series when I was a kid. Now that I'm listening to it as an adult, I can see why it stood out as a stronger story. There's a bit more going on narratively, with Laura and Mary going to school and interacting with other kids (including Mean Girl Nellie Olson). And as a kid I loved every detail about living next to the creek--swimming, minnows, leeches, you name it.) Now my stomach twisted every single time Pa would buy something on credit and assure Ma that it's fine because they're going to have that wheat crop that's going to make them super rich. (With the follow-up: "So apparently the Norwegians call this "grasshopper weather.'" "What do you suppose that means?" "I dunno. Norwegians are just weird, I guess.")