cover image Pretty Penny Sets Up Shop

Pretty Penny Sets Up Shop

Devon Kinch, Random, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-375-86735-4

Kinch's debut affirms the idea of moneymaking as a way to achieve praiseworthy goals—to celebrate a relative's birthday, for example. The appropriately named Penny has doll-like eyes, glossy black hair, designer boots, and a pink shoulder bag—think Emily the Not-so-Strange. When her grandmother Bunny waves off her offer of a birthday party ("There is no reason to spend money on a party for a little ol' lady like me"), six-year-old Penny sets up a store, the "Small Mall," to sell Bunny's unwanted attic junk so she can throw her a surprise party. Kinch provides readers with plenty of chat about money and where it comes from ("Bunny owns this yellow building from top to bottom. She... rents out three tidy apartments to neighbors"), polished spreads that include spots crammed with hats, shoes, and other consumer treats; and the occasional moral lesson ("This is not my money—it belongs to Bunny"). This is an honest acknowledgment of the centrality of money in the lives of many young girls, and an attempt to tame and direct it. Ages 4–8. (Dec.)