The Story of Money
Age 9+
History & The Past: General Interest
A funny, philosophical book about the universal subject of money, by award-winning non-fiction writer Martin Jenkins.
A funny, philosophical look at the universal subject of money by award-winning non-fiction writer Martin Jenkins, illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura. In the Yap Islands in the South Pacific money can be a stone with a hole in the middle. It can be a string of shells, a bundle of cloth or a copper slab. It's the stuff that makes the world go round and doesn't grow on trees. In this fascinating and thought-provoking book, Martin Jenkins explores the history of money from its earliest beginnings to the electronic banking of today. Along the way we learn about hunter gatherers, barter, clay tablets, goat swapping, precious metals, hard bargains, IOUs, interest, coins, Romans, taxes, inflation, paper money, currencies and exchange rates. Satoshi Kitamura’s quirky, satirical drawings perfectly complement the dry humour of the text and in the end we are reminded that money only exists because we believe in it.
Creators
Martin Jenkins has written many ground-breaking non-fiction books for Walker: Can We Save the Tiger?, Ape and The Time Book to name just a few. He has won several awards for his writing including the 1998 TES Information Book of the Year Junior Award for The Emperor's Egg, and he is the reteller of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver, illustrated by Chris Riddell, which won the 2005 Kate Greenaway Medal. He lives in Cambridge.
Satoshi Kitamura won the 1993 Mother Goose Award for the most exciting newcomer to children's book illustration for Angry Arthur. His books for Walker include The Carnival of the Animals, Stone Age Boy and Pumpkin Grumpkin edited by John Agard and Grace Nichols. Satoshi lives in Japan.
