Student Publishes The Money Tree LaDonna N. Smith, an online paralegal student, has recently published a children’s book called The Money Tree, with illustrations by Kalifa Damani. Smith said she always loved writing, and started as a poet and writer of songs. Her first success was in the fifth grade when she won the most creative writer award. In junior high, she won the creative writing award four consecutive times. While in high school, Smith wrote a poem titled “Who am I?” and won the scholastic young poet’s award. Smith wrote various stories, designed her own book covers on the computer, printed and stapled them together like a book and passed them to family and friends. The Money Tree explains basic financial concepts and practices in plain and easy to understand language that children can comprehend and use in their dayto-day lives. Smith said “The clear text and playful illustrations aim to simplify financial concepts like earning, saving and investments. The concepts have been explained through small anecdotes accompanied with colorful illustrations to stimulate children and ignite a love of savings.” The Money Tree is available at Amazon.com. A certified financial educator, Smith and her husband have four children who once thought she had a money tree growing somewhere. “Along with the release of the book I have launched the “START program,” (Savings Today and Riches Tomorrow), she said. “By using The Money Tree as a way to connect the dots, the START program introduces banking concepts to young children, dealing with schools and banks, in an interactive and fun way they can understand!,” Smith added. She plans to continue working on the program following her graduation from Herkimer College in May.
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