Annie, who saved two coins one day, saves a milkman in trouble in Goa, Abhay learns about stock markets and investment when his mother tells him about how a neighbourhood cake shop could grow. The cook Mani learns how he can save money and how a bank uses his money and gives him more in return, while he whips up a feast for Dadi’s grandson.
Five simple stories set in everyday situations and illustrated colourfully, in The Rupee Tales series are bound to engage children in the difficult subject of finance. If you are a parent who has tried explaining ‘investment’ to an eight-year-old, you will know how hard it is to talk about such nebulous concepts surrounding money in an understandable way.
You can, in fact, in one of the books titled The Cake Shop , see author Karthik Rangappa and his kid as characters. The central character is a boy, whose father works in the stock market and is unable to explain to his son what he does. The boys’ friends tease him because he does not know what his father’s work involves. “The idea to write Rupee Tales came about because of my seven-year-old daughter asking me where I work and what I do. I realised it was not easy to explain what the stock market is or, for that matter, basic finance to children. While casually chatting about this at work, we felt there was no material available to familiarise them with the basics of finance,” says Karthik, VP - Educational Services, Zerodha.
The financial services firm felt it was their responsibility to fill this gap, and hence, Rupee Tales was born. Nithin Kamath, Founder & CEO, Zerodha, says, “We are committed to boosting financial literacy in India. Rupee Tales is an attempt to creatively infuse basic financial awareness among children. The concepts covered are related to the broader financial inclusion theme, which is pivotal to the cashless and paperless economy India is yearning for. A large part of the ‘financial inclusion for all’ dream is dependent on how the younger generation adapts to it.”
The books are aimed at children aged seven years and older. Illustrations are by Tarun Andrews. Through One And A Half Stories , for example, the idea of insurance is also very simply brought out for them. The books, including Mani’s Money , Anu Learns To Save , and Vishrambu’s Journey , also skim over concepts like inflation, taxes, and also weaves in ideas of responsibility, the need to save, even if in small numbers, public property, and why we should all collectively be answerable for and look after them etc. The set of five books is priced at Rs. 470.
Check details on www.rupeetales.com.
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