YOUR MONEY AND THE WORLD

A child muses on what to do with found treasure.

Tan-skinned Nora and her lighter-skinned grandma discover a treasure chest filled with coins in the woods. What should they do with it? An anthropomorphic mouse named Kiko offers them magical doorways to explore their options. Granny sits out this adventure in favor of yoga, but Nora learns about spending, saving, donating, and investing. Presented in comics panels, these episodes are inconsistent and odd—in one scene, Nora doesn’t have enough money to buy a fancy microphone, but in another, she funds the creation of a slime-based theme park. The remaining two-thirds of the book swerves into a blend of textbooklike explanations (“Why do some backpacks cost more than others?”) and sensible advice (“Think before you spend”). The attractive artwork makes effective use of color to distinguish each fictional scene. But the book, translated from French, at times feels crammed with financial definitions and other information. Still, it offers valuable lessons, particularly when it comes to the costs and ethics of producing goods, as well as attitudes about money. Unfortunately, its messaging around sustainability and environmental awareness is muddied by mentions of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that say nothing about the energy consumption or matters of trust involved with them.

Sound morsels of advice amid a clumsy presentation.