In an interview on Economics Books for Young Children

Your next book is Those Shoes, about a little boy who can’t afford the trendy shoes all his classmates have. 

In this book the main concept is want versus need, and in the American school system, in many state standards, that’s one of the first economic concepts that young children, five-year-olds, are mandated to have to learn. Teachers have to teach some simple economic concepts, beginning with wants and needs. So this book is just right on. The boy really wants these shoes that everyone else has, but he is very poor. He’s being raised by his grandmother and she knows he needs new boots, he does not need these fancy sneakers. But he wants them so badly! And they visit different shops and finally he sees those shoes at a thrift store, but they’re too small. He doesn’t care, he still asks his grandmother to buy them, which she does. But they hurt his feet whenever he wears them and they cause blisters, so ultimately he stops wearing them. By the end of the story he is giving the shoes away to another boy in the class who is also from a poor background. It’s a hard decision for him to give the shoes away, but he does. It’s such a nice story.

Very understandable why the boy wants what everyone else in the class has, and also so easy, as a parent, if you’re not poor, to always say yes. 

It is. It’s hard to teach budget constraints when perhaps our families are not as constrained as some others. It’s very easy to give in when our children say, ‘But everyone else has one.’ We don’t want our children to stick out like a sore thumb; we want to help them fit in.

And yet there’s definitely an anti-materialistic streak in your book choices… Do you think that income inequality is something we really need to set out and teach at an early age, that otherwise it might pass children by? 

Yes, and that’s why a lot of these books in my top five have this international and poverty focus: that’s my own leaning. I think it’s crucial for our children be aware of how fortunate they are, and to start thinking about how they can give back. It’s important for them to see the world with more open eyes and be less materialistic – rather than getting caught up in ‘I’ve got to have this’, ‘I really want that’.

In an interview on Children’s books for Christmas

Those Shoes is about a little boy who can’t afford the trendy shoes all his classmates have. The main concept is want versus need. In the American school system, in many state standards, that’s one of the first economic concepts that young children (five-year-olds) are mandated to have to learn. Teachers have to teach some simple economic concepts, beginning with wants and needs. So this book is just right on.

The boy really wants these shoes that everyone else has, but he is very poor. He’s being raised by his grandmother, and she knows he needs new boots not these fancy sneakers. But he wants them so badly! They visit different shops and finally he sees those shoes at a thrift store, but they’re too small. He doesn’t care, he still asks his grandmother to buy them, which she does. But they hurt his feet whenever he wears them and they cause blisters, so ultimately he stops wearing them. By the end of the story he gives the shoes away to another boy in the class, who is also from a poor background. It’s a hard decision for him to give the shoes away. It’s such a nice story.

It’s very understandable why the boy wants what everyone else in the class has – and also so easy as a parent, if you’re not poor, to always say yes.

It is. It’s hard to teach budget constraints when perhaps our families are not as constrained as some others. It’s very easy to give in when our children say “but everyone else has one”. We don’t want our children to stick out like a sore thumb, we want to help them fit in.

And yet there’s definitely an anti-materialistic streak in this book. Do you think that income inequality is something we really need to teach at an early age – that otherwise it might pass children by?

Yes. I think it’s crucial for our children to be aware of how fortunate they are, and to start thinking about how they can give back. It’s important for them to see the world with more open eyes and be less materialistic, rather than getting caught up in “I’ve got to have this” and “I really want that”.

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