The second book in a series of books that teach children from a young age about the importance of saving and investing has been launched and is available to the public free of charge.
The book, Little by Little, is launched by Foord Asset Management. This second children’s picture book is part of their Teach Your Child to Invest financial literacy series which aims to teach children (and their parents) the basic concepts of investing.
Authored by communications manager Christina Castle and illustrated by Carla Kreuser, Little by Little tells the tale of Anele, a young squirrel, who learns that saving and investing takes time and lots of patience.
Little by Little follows on from the first book in the series, More Than Enough, in which Anele learns about the importance of saving enough to eat, to enjoy, to share, to save, and to grow for the years to come.
Foord Asset Management director Brendan Africa said financial literacy is a life skill. “Research has shown that by the age of 3, children can grasp basic money concepts, and that by the age of 7 most children have already established lifelong money habits. By starting young, we have a greater chance of creating a culture of saving and investing among South Africans.
“These books make it so easy for children to understand the core principles of investing. They explore concepts such as time, saving, income generation, compounding, diversification, risk, patience, and investing for the long term, without the use of jargon," he said.
Africa said the response to these books had been overwhelming.
"We’ve come to realise that we’re not the only ones who believe just how important it is to start the conversation with children about investing from a young age. We’re committed to ensuring that all South Africans learn this valuable life skill, and have to date distributed over 80 000 books across the country.”
Little by Little will be translated into Afrikaans, isiXhosa, and isiZulu. The books are available free to schools, libraries, and community centres in South Africa, as well as anyone else keen to create a culture of investing for their children. Both books are available in hard copy from the Foord office in Cape Town. You can also access the PDF and enjoy the listen and read-along version here: https://foord.co.za/insights/publications/teach-your-child-to-invest.
PF