“First we need a savings bank. Let us put our moneys together; let us use our moneys; let us put our money out at usury among ourselves, and reap the benefit ourselves. Let us have a bank that will take the nickels and turn them into dollars.”–Maggie Lena Walker, 1st Black Woman to Found a Bank, the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank
April is National Financial Literacy Month. Financial literacy is a topic that is defined as “the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being. …like long-term vision and planning for the future, and the discipline to use those skills every day.” While the above quote by Maggie Lena Walker is advocating for the Black community as a whole to work together and create wealth, the books featured show some semblance of those actions on an individual level. They show how fiction characters and real people used their skills and knowledge of finances to invest in themselves and build businesses for success. In some of the stories, the subject of financial literacy is not always explicit but implied.
No Small Potatoes: Junius G. Groves and His Kingdom in Kansas
Tonya Bolden | Don Tate | Knopf BYR | October 16, 2018 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
Hammering for Freedom
Rita Lorraine Hubbard | John Holyfield | Lee & Low Books | September 4, 2018 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
My Rows and Piles of Coins
Tololwa M. Mollel | E. B. Lewis | Clarion Books | August 23, 1999 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
Praline Lady
Kirstie Myvett | Kameko Madere | Pelican Publishing | November 2, 2020 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
J.D. and the Great Barber Battle
J. Dillard | Akeem S. Roberts | Kokila | February 23, 2021 | ChBk | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
All about Madam C. J. Walker
A’Lelia Bundles | Kirsten Halvorsen | Blue River Press | October 1, 2020 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
Bee Fearless: Dream Like a Kid
Mikaila Ulmer | G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR | MG | August 18, 2020 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | Indiebound
Mo’s Bows: A Young Person’s Guide to Start-Up Success: Measure, Cut, Stitch Your Way to a Great Business
Moziah Bridges | Tramica Morris | Running Press Kids | October 15, 2019 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
I Got Bank!: What My Granddad Taught Me About Money
Teri Williams | Acesgraphics Mizoram | Beckham Publications Group | June 19, 2019 | ChpBk | Amazon | IndieBound
Danny Dollar Millionaire Extraordinaire – The Lemonade Escapade
Ty Allan Jackson | Jonathan Shears | Big Head Books | December 22, 2010 | ChpBk | Amazon
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