Author Bair has serious finance credentials. She is a former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and current chair of Fannie Mae d, now, an author of whimsical personal finance books for young children. In each of the cautionary stories in the Money Tales series (2 titles), a fictional character in a fantastical setting makes a financial mistake, such as incurring large amounts of unnecessary debt from credit or signing an untenable mortgage. The consequences of that decision threaten the character with looming financial ruin. By the end, disaster is averted, and both character and reader are taught an explicit lesson about financial responsibility. Different illustrators create a distinct atmosphere for each tale. The stories are written in sometimes-strained rhyming verse with a didactic edge, and the message of each comes through unmistakably. In Princess Penelope Loses the Castle, judge-like Anna Yourpal restores Princess Persephone's towered abode to her, along with the admonition, "To protect yourself from [predators'] . . . misdeeds, / These horrible contracts, people should read." A factual appendix at the end of each book explores the concept in greater depth and may be more appropriate for older readers.

Loans, interest, and debt all get their day in the sun in this tale of a princess hornswoggled by a smooth-talking siding salesman.Princess Persephone is distraught by the drafts in her father's castle. When Aluminum Jim offers to sell and install tin siding on her home, she leaps at the chance. He even offers her a loan with a 50-page contract. Ignoring the sensible objections of Spice the dragon, Persephone signs without reading the contract. Unsurprisingly, after a sloppy installation job, her first bill comes due, and she discovers that she owes more than she can pay. Before you know it, she's lost her castle entirely. Written by a former FDIC chair, the book valiantly attempts to simplify the concept of predatory lending and its risks but gets in over its head. The urge to teach children to "Beware the Trickster Lender" (as the backmatter further elucidates) is a noble one, but much of the text will remain obscure to young readers despite its expression in rhyming couplets ("With interest compounded annually, / The loan, it balloons exponentially"). Most baffling is the complete absence of a glossary at the end of the book. Should a child reader manage to engage with the material and wish to learn more, they'll be hard-pressed to define such terms as lien or default-rightly identified as "mystery words"-or even contract. Bair's Billy the Borrowing Blue-Footed Booby, illustrated by Amy Zhing, publishes simultaneously and addresses consumer debt in abab stanzas.Predatory lending may someday yield great works of children's literature, but that day is not today. (Picture book. 9-12)