Clarence Gets a Bargain
Any book can teach a kid to SAVE.
The hard part is teaching them to SPEND.
One image of a piggy bank and a kid becomes a saver. One lemonade stand and they’re an entrepreneur. Someday, a stock chart. Real skills. A kid will eventually need all of them.
I just took a different fork in the road.
Before a kid ever saves a dollar or invests one, they spend one. That’s the skill Clarence Gets a Bargain teaches — the one they’ll use this week: how to spend it wisely. Read the ad. Compare the prices. Spot the markdown. Hand over the coupon. Pay the tax. Keep the receipt.
The whole trip from “I want it” to “Is it worth it?” The lesson is baked in. No workbook to buy. No activities to complete. The 21-term glossary is already in the back. Just a story a kid finishes because they want to know how it ends.
It’s not a book about saving money. It’s a book about spending it wisely.
It Clicks Later — In a Real Store.
You read it today. It pays off months — even years — from now, when your kid hits a real money moment and the book fires back:
Recognition first. Then the habit. That’s the book doing its job when you’re not even in the room.
Shopping Homework? Yes, Really.
Clarence learns that the best deals don’t just fall in your lap. Through hands-on “shopping homework,” he discovers how to compare prices, read ads, and find the real value behind every price tag. Your kids will too.
The Smart Discovery
Clarence finds a marked-down RoBimmie and takes it back to compare with the newer models. Two small differences — a slightly smaller screen and an antenna. One much smarter choice. This is the moment kids learn that newer doesn’t always mean better.
“Characters are adorable. Lessons are spread throughout adventure in such a sweet way. It certainly doesn’t feel like a text book but the glossary is an awesome resource. Well done, Mr. Bach!”
Flip Through Clarence’s Coupon Book!
Click to open • Flip pages by clicking left/right • Arrow keys work • Hit Read Full Size to read the pages up close
Page 22. Aisle Five.
Your kid is at the checkout line. They have been holding a coupon for ten minutes — clutching it like a winning lottery ticket.
The cashier scans the robot box.
“That’ll be $19.99.”
Your kid pauses. Eyes flicker. They are doing math.
“Wait. With the clearance price and the extra 10% off coupon… that’s less than the sticker, right?”
The cashier looks at you. You look at your kid.
Your kid just did real-world math at a register. For fun. Because it mattered to them.
That is what this book does.
Clarence Did It. Your Kids Can Too.
“My students fought over who got to hold the book during read-aloud. Fought. Over a book about money.”
“An absolute masterclass in early-stage financial literacy. This book seamlessly bridges the gap between engaging, character-driven storytelling and core economic competencies.”
“It taught me how to get sales to save money, which made me feel more grown-up and smart. I would recommend this book to other kids!”
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Free Resources + Updates
Parents. Teachers. The occasional grandparent who’s already three steps ahead.
Why Clarence Belongs in Your Curriculum
Financial literacy is usually treated as a “high school” topic, but research shows that money habits are largely formed by age seven1. Most educational books on this subject are either too dry for a first-grader or too simplistic for a fifth-grader.
Clarence Gets a Bargain was built for that gap. 36 pages. Grades 1–5. The book itself is the lesson plan. What’s inside:
- Behavioral Economics: The Wants vs. Needs decision, with real stakes a seven-year-old can feel.
- Real-World Math: Percentage markdowns, sale pricing, and coupon savings applied at a register, not on a worksheet.
- College Savings: A 529 account explained in a way a seven-year-old actually follows — and doesn’t roll their eyes at.
- The Financial Glossary: Two pages of page-referenced definitions. That is what makes the book defensible as curriculum, not just a picture book.
Stop teaching money with abstract worksheets. Teach it with a mission.
DOWNLOAD THE EDUCATOR’S PREVIEW1 Whitebread, D. & Bingham, S. (2013). Habit Formation and Learning in Young Children. Money Advice Service / University of Cambridge.
The day kids make their first purchase, their status changes: they’re consumers now. Clueless ones, most likely — but consumers all the same. Clarence Gets a Bargain steps right in and arms them with an arsenal of smart-shopping weapons — before they realize they’ve been schooled.
The Big Six. (Plus Many More.)
Every concept is woven into the plot — kids absorb them because the story demands it, not because a worksheet tells them to.
Wants vs. Needs
The foundation of every smart money decision. Clarence learns to weigh what he wants against what he’ll really use — the tension drives the whole story.
Pages 4–8Budgeting & Goal Setting
How do you save for something big? Clarence does the math, makes a plan, and learns that chores and patience are actually a finance strategy.
Pages 9–14Comparison Shopping
Sea-Mart has two robots. Different prices. Same brand. Clarence learns that not all deals are what they seem — and smarter shopping wins.
Pages 15–20Coupons & Markdowns
Real coupon math. Percentage off. Sale events. Clarence crunches numbers at the register in a scene kids actually cheer for.
Pages 16–22College Savings (529)
Dad explains a 529 account in a way that makes a 7-year-old nod seriously. Clarence rolls his eyes. The 529 keeps stacking.
Pages 6, 24Consumer Awareness
Think before you buy. Just because it’s a deal doesn’t mean you need it. Kids open this book as impulsive little spenders. They close it as aware, educated consumers.
Page 29Every Other Money Book Stops at the Piggy Bank.
Walk the kids’ money shelf and you’ll meet the same three books over and over. The jar book. The glossary with a mascot. The lemonade stand. All fine. All parked on the earning-and-saving side of the register. Clarence Gets a Bargain works the other side — the side your kid actually visits every week. He gets shopping homework, reads the sale ads, compares two robots in the aisle, finds the markdown, and hands the cashier a coupon. Spending well is the first money skill a kid ever uses. It shouldn’t be the last one anyone teaches.
The Jar Books
Save, spend, share. Three labeled jars and a pat on the head. The kid never leaves the kitchen.
The Mini-Textbooks
Definitions with cartoons on top. Kids smell a worksheet one page in.
The Lemonade Stands
Earn a buck, feel proud. That’s half the job. Nobody shows kids how to spend what they made.
Clarence Gets a Bargain
One real purchase, ad to register: budgeting, comparison shopping, a clearance markdown, a coupon, the sales tax. The kid does the math because the robot depends on it.
Name another picture book where the kid reads the sale ads before the trip, compares models in the aisle, hands over a coupon, and pays the sales tax. We’ll wait.
Supports National Education Frameworks
The concepts in Clarence Gets a Bargain support recognized 1–5 financial literacy and academic frameworks. Educators may find natural connections to the standards below.
*Jump$tart and CEE topic names reference the 2021 National Standards for Personal Financial Education, co-published by the Jump$tart Coalition and Council for Economic Education. CCSS codes reference the Common Core State Standards. FDIC labels reference the FDIC Money Smart and Hands on Banking programs.
Concept-to-standard connections reference the publicly published 2021 Jump$tart National Standards for Personal Finance Education (co-published with the Council for Economic Education) and are provided to assist educators in reviewing alignment for their district’s specific requirements.
† Glossary supports vocabulary across every concept covered.
Program in a Box: A Complete 4-Week Financial Literacy Module
Built alongside the book, not bolted on after. Lesson plans map to the frameworks your district already uses. Assessments produce the data grant reports require. All nine tools. All free. All yours.
Educator Preview
The page you send your principal. A guided walkthrough of every financial concept covered, with actual illustrations, a 7-stop story timeline, standards-at-a-glance across Jump$tart, Common Core, and CEE, bulk pricing tiers, and a cliffhanger that makes administrators want to read the ending. Scroll-animated, smartboard-ready, built for the person who signs the purchase order.
Open the PreviewZero-Prep Lesson Plans
Three 15-minute modules you can teach tomorrow with nothing but the book and a screen. Each module has a built-in countdown timer, a hands-on activity with coupon-style student cards, and a one-click Presentation Mode that turns your smartboard into a full-screen, arrow-key-navigable lesson. Covers needs vs. wants, coupons and discounts, and saving goals. Zero prep means zero prep.
Get the LessonsThe Money Talk
36 discussion prompts organized into three chapter sections, with a Classroom/Home toggle that swaps facilitation tips for family activities. Filter by depth (Starter, Intermediate, Advanced) or hit the Random button and go. Every prompt expands to reveal a teacher tip or a “Try This at Home” activity. Works at a desk, a dinner table, or in the car on the way to the grocery store.
Open the GuideSmart Shopper Challenge
A five-question interactive quiz that students take on any device. Scenario-based questions with Clarence in every card, instant scoring, animated star ratings, and a printable certificate with the student’s name. Educators get a built-in toolkit with answer key, standards alignment, and a print-ready worksheet version. Use it as a pre/post assessment or a standalone Friday activity.
Try the QuizSea-Mart Secret Mission
A three-mission family grocery store adventure. Kids enter their Agent Name, sort items into needs vs. wants, hunt for real sale prices, and compare brands side-by-side — all at the actual store. Missions unlock sequentially, and completing all three earns a rank (Bargain Apprentice to Chief Bargain Officer) on a printable mission report. The book comes alive in aisle five.
Start the MissionCurriculum Alignment Matrix
An interactive standards map covering eight financial literacy concepts across four national frameworks: Jump$tart, Common Core Math, Common Core ELA, and CEE. Filter by framework or grade level (1–5), expand any concept to see every aligned standard with its code and description, and generate a custom report for your grant application. Built for purchase orders, Title I submissions, and CRA documentation.
Open the MatrixState of the States Map
30 states now guarantee a personal finance course — in high school, roughly nine years after money habits form. Click your state on the interactive map, see exactly where it stands, and get the case for starting the pipeline in K–5. Sourced from NGPF and CEE 2026 data, with the receipts cited at the bottom.
See Your StateGrant-in-a-Box
Four funding requests, already written: a DonorsChoose project description, a PTA one-paragraph ask, a bank sponsorship letter, and a CRA memo a compliance officer can drop straight in the file. Copy, fill the brackets, send. The hardest part of funding a classroom set was never the asking — it was the blank page. Fixed.
Get FundedSea-Mart Receipt Builder
A pretend register that teaches real math. Kids pick a robot, spot the clearance sticker, remember the coupon in their pocket, and watch sales tax do its thing — then print the receipt and show somebody how much they saved. Works on a smartboard, a tablet, or the family computer. Beep included, free of charge.
Ring It UpInstitutional & Bulk Ordering
Built for the way schools, libraries, credit unions, and financial education programs actually buy. Purchase orders welcomed. Net 30 standard. Title I pricing on file.
Request Examination Copy
For school curriculum directors, PTA leadership, and Jump$tart board members. Submit your institutional email to receive a complimentary review copy for adoption evaluation.
Request Exam CopyRequest Bulk Quote (25+ Copies)
Volume pricing for school districts, local credit unions, real estate brokerages, Scout troops, and community organizations. Title I volume discounts available.
Contact for Institutional OrdersEnterprise & Co-Branding Partnerships
Custom co-branded editions for corporate sponsors, financial institutions, and national programs. Available for CRA community development initiatives, financial institution outreach programs, and state-level financial literacy efforts.
Contact UsWe accept Purchase Orders (POs), offer Net 30 terms, and support Title I volume pricing. Your purchasing office can grab the full vendor packet — specs, ISBN/LCCN, terms, and a ready-to-sign sole-source justification letter — at the Procurement Page. Need funding first? Grant-in-a-Box has the request letters pre-written.
Let’s Clear This Up Fast.
Build It Into the Budget.
Defend It to the Board.
Clarence Gets a Bargain is a financial literacy resource (estimated Lexile AD 620L) aligned with FDIC Money Smart for Young People themes and Jump$tart National Standards for K–12 Personal Finance Education. It includes pre-built take-home activities built to support CRA community development initiatives, Title I supplemental material programs, and corporate financial literacy philanthropy.
When your team asks why you selected this resource, the answer is documented: Jump$tart National Standards (Spending, Saving, Earning Income, Managing Credit). Common Core CCSS.Math.5.NBT.B.7. FDIC Money Smart K–5 themes. Council for Economic Education topics. Pre- and post-assessment activities included.
And the kids actually think it’s hilarious.