Super Stories for Money Heroes! (Money Heroes KS2 Chapter Book)

Super Stories for

Money Heroes 3 stories in 1

Have f un learnin g about

MOnEY

!

E.L. norry

Illustrated by Iris Amaya

Super Stories for

Money Heroes 3 stories in 1

E.L. norry

Illustrated by Iris Amaya

Supported by

Money Heroes is a programme from Young Money, supported by HSBC UK. Young Money is part of Young Enterprise, a registered charity (charity number: 313697)

Published in the UK by Scholastic, 2021 Euston House, 24 Eversholt Street, London, NW1 1DB Scholastic Ireland, 89E Lagan Road, Dublin Industrial Estate, Glasnevin, Dublin, D11 HP5F SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. Text © E. L. Norry, 2021 Illustrations by Iris Amaya © Scholastic, 2021 Cover illustration by Iris Amaya Designed by Plum5 Limited The right of E. L. Norry to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

ISBN 978 07023 0967 0 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any other means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without prior written permission of Scholastic Limited.

Printed in the UK by Bell and Bain Ltd, Glasgow Paper made from wood grown in sustainable forests and other controlled sources.

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. www.scholastic.co.uk

Contents Not a Fairy Good Idea

5

Suki and Susannah Save Christmas

25

Swap Shop

43

Not a Fairy Good Idea

Jess and her best friends, Manit and Ashley, sat on the grass eating their breaktime snack. They were watching a group from Year 5 bounce a rainbowstriped ball to each other. Jess bit into her apple and felt something move.

“Ow!” “What is it?” Manit asked.

Jess put her fingers into her mouth and wobbled a tooth. “I’ve got a loose tooth!”

“Oooh, can I see?” Ashley leaned close and Jess opened her mouth wide. “Pull it out!”

“Is there blood?” Manit squeezed his eyes shut.

“I don’t want to see.”

5

Jess shook her head. “No, not yet. I can feel skin though.” She wiggled the tooth back and forth with her tongue.

“That’s a molar,” Ashley said. “When my first molar fell out, I got extra money from the tooth fairy.”

“Me too,” Manit added.

“Did you? How much?” asked Jess.

Ashley finished chewing her malt loaf. “Usually the tooth fairy brings a pound, but for my molar, I got two pounds.”

“Two of mine came out together and I got five pounds,” Manit said.

“Five pounds! Wow!” Jess was so excited – five pounds could buy a lot of sweets! *** Back in class, the three friends worked together on their handwriting. Ashley brought out a new pencil case; it was a long rectangle and coloured pink and purple and lilac with turquoise swirls.

Jess gazed at it – the most perfect thing she’d ever seen. “Nice pencil case!”

Ashley grinned. “Yeah. It’s great – look!” She opened the magnetic clasp and pulled out a secret compartment, 6

which had a tiny drawer with a cute mini calculator in it. Jess glanced at her scuffed-up pencil case: a pen had leaked and one side was now permanently blue. She pushed it to one side. “When did you get it?”

“Last weekend in town,” Ashley said.

Jess wiggled her tooth all day. Maybe if … if the tooth fairy came… She’d be able to ask her Mum to take her shopping for a pencil case like Ashley’s at the weekend! ***

MAGNET IC C LASP

HANDY RULER

LED TORC H FOUR SECRET COMPARTMENTS

At the end of school, Jess’s mum waited by the school gates with Jess’s baby brother straining to get out of the buggy. Jess leaned into the buggy and waggled her tongue; Bobby giggled.

Jess turned to her mum. “My tooth’s so wobbly, I bet it’ll fall out tonight.”

On the short walk back to their flat, Jess told her mum about Ashley’s amazing new pencil case. “It has four secret compartments, pen holders and a built-in ruler!”

“Well, that sounds like something to save up for,” Mum said.

Jess started pushing the buggy. “Could I do jobs around the house to get more money?”

Mum laughed. “Do I get paid for what I do around the house? Cooking, cleaning, laundry?”

Jess shook her head.

“No. Well, then.”

When they got in, Jess was still thinking about the pencil case and wondering how she could get one.

“Manit got five whole pounds from the tooth fairy when two teeth came out.”

“Were they made of gold?” her mum joked, unbuckling Bobby and handing him to Jess. “Could you change his nappy for me, love? It’s just a wee. I’ll dish up the shepherd’s pie.”

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Jess whined, “I don’t like shepherd’s pie.”

“Jessica! Sorry, but it’s the only way Bobby will eat the veg. You know, some people don’t even have enough to eat. You’re a very lucky girl.”

Jess didn’t get pocket money like her friends or have a dad at home … so sometimes she didn’t feel very lucky.

But Jess took Bobby into the living room, got out the changing mat and the nappy bag.

“Wait til you get your teeth coming through!” Jess said, as she changed him, blowing a raspberry on Bobby’s tummy. They both laughed. *** 9

In the kitchen, Mum put Bobby in the highchair and tied a bib around his neck. He squealed and banged his plastic spoon.

“Want to feed him?” Mum asked Jess.

Jess loaded up the spoon with shepherd’s pie, made an aeroplane noise and swooped it through the air.

Feeding Bobby was one of Jess’s favourite things to do.

She thought again about her tooth. “So why did Manit get so much for his teeth?” she asked Mum. Through a mouthful, Mum said, “Well … his mum’s a dentist, isn’t she? And he’s the friend who’s not allowed fizzy drinks or sweets, right? So, maybe his teeth were perfect and earned him extra.”

Mum was probably right.

Jess sighed and picked out the carrots

and peas from the shepherd’s pie, eating the mince and mash. She ran her tongue across her own two fillings – maybe she needed to look after her own teeth a bit better.

“Ash’s pencil case is soooo great. It has this—” Mum’s fork clattered loudly against her plate.

“You have a perfectly good pencil case that we bought last year. You might want a new one, but you don’t need one.”

She hadn’t seen the ink splodge… thought Jess.

Jess poked her tongue out at Bobby – and her wobbly tooth shot straight onto Bobby’s highchair tray!

He squealed, and Jess snatched up her tooth before he tried to eat it.

“Seems like your lucky day!” Mum said, smiling.

“Don’t forget to put your tooth under your pillow so the tooth fairy knows to call.” ***

In the morning, Jess felt under her pillow. What would she get for her first molar? Her fingers touched a coin.

A pound – was that all? Jess got dressed, raked a brush through her curls and stomped downstairs.

Bobby was crying, shaking his head and refusing his breakfast. “His teething is dragging on,” Mum grumbled, yawning. “Kept me up half the night.”

“Mum…” Jess began, but just then Bobby slammed his hand down and tipped his bowl over. Porridge went everywhere.

“Oh, no!” Mum exclaimed, wiping a clump of porridge out of her hair. “Jess, you better get going. Have a good day, love.”

Jess wanted to tell Mum how disappointed she was, but instead she grabbed a piece of toast, slung her school bag over her shoulder and headed out the door.

The second Jess left the house it started to rain. She put her hood up. Rain trickled into her shoes as she ran through the school gates just as they were being closed.

What a miserable day – rain lashed against the school windows all morning.

At break time, Miss Burnett said, “Sorry class, but it’s far too wet to go outside.” She walked round the classroom, laying out colouring pencils and paper on each table.

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“Check this out!” Ashley brought out the pencil case. “You didn’t see this part yesterday!” She showed them a built-in pen with a mini torch.

“My tooth did come out last night. Want to have a look? You could use your torch!” Jess opened her mouth to show Manit and Ashley the gap her tooth had left.

“How much did you get?” Manit asked.

“The same as normal, a pound.”

“Oh,” Ashley said, “I thought you might get more!”

Jess scowled. “Me too.”

Diego was at the table in front of them, busy colouring. He turned around. “Do you get given money 13

for loose teeth here? You’re lucky! Back in Spain, it’s Ratoncito Pérez, the little mouse who comes to visit, but he doesn’t leave us money.”

“A mouse?” Jess laughed. “Cool! Does he bring cheese?”

Diego smiled. “No! We leave our teeth in a glass of water. In the morning, the water’s gone and Ratoncito has left sweets in the glass.”

Manit said, “That sounds alright.”

“I love sweets, so it’s fine by me!” Diego laughed.

But that didn’t sound fair to Jess – that people in Spain received sweets, but kids in the UK got different amounts of money.

Their class topic that term was the suffragettes.

They had learnt about women applying to vote in the 1920s. Those women – the suffragettes – had created and signed petitions to make the voting laws fair for women as well as men.

Jess had an idea.

“We should start a petition! To give to the tooth fairy. We could ask that everyone gets the same for their teeth and say that … until that happens, no one should give away their teeth!”

Diego frowned. “But I like getting sweets!”

“Yeah.” Manit shook his head. “That doesn’t sound like a … Fairy Good Idea!”

He and Diego fell apart laughing. *** At home, Jess told her mum that none of her friends agreed with her idea about starting a petition.

“Well, I’m not sure getting a list of signatures holding the tooth fairy to ransom is really the best thing to do,” Mum said. “Money comes and goes for everyone, depending on their different circumstances. Maybe it’s the same in Fairyland?”

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“If I don’t write a petition, what else could I do?”

Jess grumbled.

“Why don’t you write a letter? Express your thoughts and then see what the tooth fairy says, hmm?”

Mum suggested. “Now, please go and clean your teeth.

Be gentle around the gap and don’t worry if you see a little blood. I’ll be in to kiss you goodnight after I’ve settled Bobby.”

Snuggled in bed, Jess wrote a long letter to the tooth fairy, laying out her concerns. She kept her handwriting neat and remembered ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. Folding her blue paper in half, she slipped it under her pillow.

She couldn’t wait to see the tooth fairy’s reply!

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*** In the morning, Jess found a note underneath her pillow.

“Mum!” Jess bounded downstairs, waving it around.

“She replied!” Jess rushed into the kitchen.

“That’s great.” Mum stirred a pan of porridge on the cooker. “What did she say?”

Jess read aloud.

“Dear Jessica Lovely to hear from you, though correspondence outside of TCT (tooth collection time) is most irregular. However, since your handwriting was so wonderful and you were so polite, I thought I’d answer your queries. I appreciate that you may be disappointed not to receive additional remuneration for your first molar, but the current financial climate doesn’t allow for an increase in the rates for teeth.”

“Re-muner … what?” Jess frowned at her Mum. “I don’t understand… What’s the weather got to do with my teeth?”

Mum laughed. “She understands you’re upset that you didn’t get much money but says that the way their world is right now, she can’t afford to up the pay.

Carry on!”

“As well as volunteering on the Tooth Fairy Council, I also work as Chief Necklace Stringer and we’re

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understaffed at this present time. I will ask my superiors if I can raise your concerns at our next general meeting.

Have you ever volunteered for anything? I’d love to hear how you support your own community. Keep brushing!”

Mum scraped porridge into a bowl. “Your tooth fairy sounds very sensible indeed, Jess.” *** At the end of school, during Golden Time, Miss Burnett asked the class who had ideas for which charity the school could support next. Jess remembered the tooth fairy mentioning she volunteered, and what Mum had said the other day about people not having enough to eat.

Jess put her hand up. “How about a food bank?”

“Thank you. That’s a great idea, Jess. Everyone needs fruit and vegetables to be healthy, but fresh food won’t last very long outside a fridge. What items do you think might be good to donate?”

Manit put his hand up. Miss Burnett nodded at him.

“Tins and stuff that lasts for ages like rice and pasta?” he said.

“Yes, exactly.” Miss Burnett wrote a long list of foods on the board. “If anyone has any spares of these

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items in their cupboards, please bring them in. I’ll set up a donation bin in reception. Now, we’ll make posters advertising the food bank donation day, and on Friday I’ll give out prizes for the top three most colourful posters.”

“Shall we colour ours in together?” Ashley asked, bringing out her new pencil case. Jess nodded. *** After school, Jess headed straight for the kitchen and went through all the cupboards.

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“What are you up to?” Mum asked, putting the buggy away. “Getting yourself a snack?”

“School needs donations for the food bank. After what the tooth fairy said about helping the community…

Do we have anything?”

“Well…” Mum opened up the top cupboards.

“I bought pasta and rice for Bobby, but he doesn’t like it, so we could start with that. Oh, and he’s gone off custard too.”

Jess said, “But that’s not very … special.” She held up a fancy jar of olives that had been sitting there for ages. “What about this?”

“Sure.” Mum shrugged.

Jess put the packets, tins and the fancy jar into a plastic bag. Bobby shuffled over, trying to climb into the bag too.

“Oh, Bobby!” Jess laughed, picking him up. *** At bedtime, Jess wrote back to the tooth fairy, telling her about the food bank. Maybe she’d now be so impressed that she’d offer Jess more money? Good deeds always went rewarded. Her own special pencil case surely wasn’t far away now.

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*** In the morning, another reply was waiting for Jess. She ran downstairs.

“Dear Jessica,” Jess read aloud to Mum over breakfast.

“Well done on helping your school’s food bank. How sad that some people do not have enough to eat! We had our General Meeting but I’m afraid the prices given for teeth won’t be increasing. Due to the increased consumption of fizzy drinks and sweets, teeth aren’t reaching us in a very good condition these days. This means we had to invest in heavy duty cleaning and grinding facilities; we grind teeth down into powder, and the powder is what’s used to power Fairyland. Also, soon our sewage extractor needs to be replaced with the OoopScoop500 – children still swallow or drop their teeth down the toilet!”

“Wow,” Mum said, from where she was washing up at the sink, when Jess had finished. “Who’d have thought, hmm?”

“I know,” replied Jess, shaking her head. “There’s no way she can afford to give me more money now. I had no idea Fairyland had so many costs. I didn’t really think about all the jobs she might need to do.”

Jess sighed and watched Mum drying the dishes.

“Actually, Mum, need help with anything before I go?”

“That would be great.” Mum smiled. “I need to put another wash on before dropping Bobby at nursery, so if you could take the dry clothes off the radiators, that’d be a huge help.” *** On Friday, Miss Burnett asked the class to present the posters they’d been working on for the food bank.

“Well done, everyone!” she said. “Jessica, yours is so colourful. I’d like to award you third prize. Would you like to come up to the front and choose something from the prize drawer?”

Jess walked to the front of the class and peered into Miss Burnett’s treasure trove: sparkly pens, colouring books and mini puzzles – even a smaller version of a

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pencil case a bit like Ashley’s. Jess imagined choosing that … but that prize was only for one person. Ashley had helped her colour in her poster, and Mum was right – Jess’s pencil case was okay for now. She could put a pencil case on her birthday wish list.

Was there anything in the drawer that would be fun for her and her friends to play with? Soon she spotted the perfect thing: a rainbow-coloured bouncy ball. She picked it up.

“Oh Jess, that’s tiny – here take this too.” Miss Burnett handed her a sparkly pen with a fluffy pompom on the end.

What a wonderful start – a beautiful pen for the perfect pencil case, whenever that would arrive.

Suki and Susannah Save Christmas

Suki and Susannah walked to their grandma’s house which was only two roads away from their school. The twins went round every day until their parents got home from work.

As they walked, Susannah asked her sister, “So what charity are you going to vote for?”

They were both in Year 5 and their class was researching charities. Homework for the week was to consider which charity they’d choose to support for a class discussion, along with reasons why.

Suki said, “There’s no cure for cancer yet, so any money raised to help find a cure would be good. And I know you love animals, but they’re not as important as humans.”

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“How can you say that!” Susannah cried. “Buddy was better than some humans!”

When they’d moved into their new flat to be nearer Grandma, they needed to rehome their Labrador dog, Buddy. The flat was too small, and with Mum going back to work, there was no one home to walk him. The girls missed Buddy very much, and their big garden too.

Susannah said, passionately, “I miss him so much!

Sometimes I wish we’d never moved to this stupid flat.”

Suki squeezed her sister’s hand. “I know,” she said.

“Me too. I mean, it’s fun sharing with you, but I really liked having my own room.”

“Anyway, humans aren’t more important. Animals can’t speak up for themselves,” Susannah continued.

“It’s not fair how they’re used for experiments and makeup and things.”

“I still think looking after people should come first,” Suki said, ringing Grandma’s doorbell. “Humans need to be healthy to look after animals.”

“Hi girls, good day?” Grandma asked, opening the door. Suki and Susannah hugged her, dumped their rucksacks and went into the kitchen. The work surfaces were covered with mixed fruit, lemons, oranges and sugar. Grandma’s apron was dusted with flour; she was making her famous Christmas cake two months before Christmas – as always.

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“It smells lovely in here!” Suki said, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply.

“Nothing like baking to make a place feel homely,” Grandma said, smiling. She rubbed her hands on her apron.

“I can’t wait for Christmas,” Susannah sighed, sinking onto a stool at the breakfast bar. “I’m so excited.

I’ve already written my list.”

“Me too!” Suki laughed.

“On my list I’ve got a new bike, roller skates, a tablet…”

Grandma poured the batter into two cake tins.

“Anyone for the best bit?” She pushed the mixing bowls towards them, smiling. Suki and Susannah grabbed one each and ran their fingers around the rim, licking off the ginger and cinnamon flavoured cake mixture.

“Girls,” Grandma said gently. “That sounds like a long list. But, you know… Christmas might be a little … different this year.”

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“Different?” Susannah asked, narrowing her eyes.

“What do you mean ‘different’?”

“Because we’re not at the house anymore?” Suki added. “I guess we can’t get a massive tree like usual.”

“Well yes, that’s part of it. But, your parents had to give back the new car, and Mum’s new job is very busy.

We have a chance for us to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Maybe with not so much emphasis on the material side of things.”

“Are you saying we’re not getting any presents?”

Suki cried.

Grandma laughed and shook her head. “Not no gifts, but maybe fewer than you’re used to. It won’t hurt to think about what Christmastime really means, and what the best memories are made of.”

“That’s easy,” Susannah said. “Eating, playing games, watching Christmas films and being together.”

Grandma beamed. “Exactly right, lovely.”

“And those things don’t cost heaps, do they?”

Suki said.

“They certainly don’t!” ***

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Back home, in the hallway Suki and Susannah heard their parents raised voices coming from the living room.

Suki put her ear to the door and held her finger up.

“Shh,” she whispered to Susannah. “I’m trying to listen.”

“It’s not right to spy!”

Susannah said.

“But I think…” Suki frowned and turned to Susannah.

“Dad just said we need to ‘make cutbacks’.

What does that mean?”

Susannah shrugged. “I guess … not spend as much?”

“But it’s nearly Christmas!” Suki whispered, her eyes going wide. “Do you think that’s what Grandma meant? That we’ve run out of money?”

“I don’t think so. Mum and Dad both have jobs now.”

“But Mum wasn’t working for ages and we’ve just moved. They hired that big van and everything…”

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Upstairs, they dumped their schoolbags onto their beds. Suki sat cross-legged on her bed and Susannah laid on hers.

Suki said, “I haven’t actually shown anyone my list yet, but it is quite long.”

“Mine too.” Susannah nodded. “Maybe we should cut them down a bit? We don’t need so much stuff. And what about thinking of ways we could save? Surprise Mum and Dad.” “That’s a good idea! Okay, that’s our mission – save money and save Christmas!” *** As Dad cleared away the dishes from the dinner table, Mum asked, “Did you manage to get all your homework done at Grandma’s?”

“Nearly all,” Suki said. “But we have one more exercise – money planning. Grandma doesn’t do online banking so we thought maybe you’d explain some stuff to us.”

Mum glanced at Dad, who shrugged. “I guess it’s never too early to learn about taking care of your finances,” he said.

Mum fired up the old laptop and logged into her bank account. She pointed at the screen.

“Financial information is protected information and should be kept private, so don’t be telling your friends what I’m about to share with you, okay, girls?”

Suki and Susannah looked at each other and nodded. On the screen was a long list of numbers, some with minus signs next to them.

“See, this is how I keep track of our wages; that’s our income and what we spend is called our outgoings.

I check it every day, and make sure to keep my receipts too. Then I match it up against our family budget.”

“But what exactly is a budget?” Susannah asked, leaning closer to the screen.

“Budgeting is seeing what comes in, what goes out and what you have left over. See our wages there?” Mum pointed to a figure.

Suki grinned and nudged Susannah. “That looks all right.”

Mum laughed. “Well, it would be great – if we didn’t have to pay anything out!”

“What do we – you – have to pay for then?”

Mum dug into her handbag and brought out her diary. She flicked through. “Let’s see… This is where I keep my receipts and bills. We have to pay rent for the flat. We need to pay a certain amount every month if we want to carry on living here. Then 32

we have bills: gas, electric and water. The internet, phone, TV licence, council tax.”

Dad chimed in, “That’s why I remind you to close the doors to keep the heat in and to turn off the lights!

And not to spend ages in the shower.”

Suki said, “What’s council tax?”

Dad explained. “We pay every month for the police, fire brigade and access to our health service, the NHS.” Susannah asked, “Is that everything?”

Mum smiled. “Oh no. We have other costs each month too: our bus passes and groceries. We also like to put some aside for emergencies, like last year when Dad had to go back to India for a while, and saving for your future too.”

Suki said, “So what happens to the money left over, if there is any?”

“Well, when we’ve taken care of all our needs: food, clothes and a roof over our heads – then we can think about what we might want. The fun stuff.”

The fun stuff. There hadn’t been any of that for a while, the twins thought. Is this budgeting the reason why they couldn’t go to the cinema or bowling last month?

Susannah said, “So you have to make sure everyone’s needs are sorted out before you spend anything else?”

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Mum nodded. “That’s right. We work out what we have left over. Some months we might choose to go swimming or have a takeaway.”

Dad added, “Sometimes one-off things come up too: the washing machine or hoover breaks down, or, like last month when Grandma’s boiler exploded – things like that.”

“What happens if the money runs out?” asked Suki, worried.

Susannah said, “They just get more from the bank, you can borrow off them.”

Dad said, “Now, hold on girls… Sometimes it might be necessary to borrow from the bank for big things like buying a house, but usually it’s wise to only spend what you can afford. The bank can help out but they don’t hand out free money! They charge you money to borrow money. That’s called ‘interest’, so ideally you need to learn how to budget and save, and if you need to borrow then you have to weigh up the risks very carefully.” *** Next morning, on their way to school, Suki and Susannah walked past the newsagent’s. They stopped to read the postcards in the window. Suki read a couple out loud – a few had ‘Help Wanted’ written on them.

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“Look, this woman needs her dog walked on Sundays while she’s shopping. Isn’t that just down the road?”

Susannah pressed her nose up against the glass to read another. “And this man needs his leaves swept up and cleared.”

The girls turned to each other excitedly, both thinking exactly the same. “We could do those things!”

Suki opened her backpack and wrote down the phone numbers in a notebook. “We could earn extra money and give it to Mum towards Christmas. We’ll ask her about it later.” *** 35

But, after school, when the girls told Mum about the postcard advertising jobs, she shook her head.

“I’m sorry girls. I understand it must be frustrating not to receive pocket money like some of your friends, but I’m afraid you’re just not old enough to be taking on odd jobs like that. You need to be at least fourteen before I’d feel confident sending you off. We’re new to the area, remember?”

The girls looked at each other. They didn’t want to tell their mum that they weren’t trying to earn pocket money.

The next day, in the playground at breaktime, the girls thought about different ways they could raise extra money.

“We haven’t got much to sell, everything was cleared out when we moved,” Suki said.

Susannah thought about this for a while and then she said, “Have we got any of our own money?”

Suki went over to their chest of drawers and emptied out their moneybox. She counted the coins. “Actually, from our birthday we’ve got five pounds and forty pence left over.”

“Hmm,” Susannah said. “That won’t buy a tablet! So if we can’t raise loads of money, how about just spending less? And we could maybe … make some Christmas presents? Then Mum wouldn’t need to buy new stuff.”

Suki frowned. “But what could we make?”

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“You’re good at painting. Instead of buying cards, we could make our own.”

“Oh yeah!” Suki liked this idea. “I could use those watercolours I’ve hardly touched. You’re good at crafts; we could make bookmarks for Mum and Dad? Maybe ask Grandma for some of her garden cuttings and see if she has any spare pots. We could decorate them and give those to our Aunties?” ***

After school, at Grandma’s, they told her their plans for making gifts for their parents and aunts and uncles.

“That’s a wonderful idea!” Grandma said.

“Honestly? Homemade gifts have so much love and thought put into them. Your dad has a lovely voice; you could record him singing and playing his guitar.

Uncle Abhishek would love that, especially since he’ll be in Mumbai for Christmas.” *** Back home, just before bed, the girls asked Dad to get out his guitar and sing their favourite songs from when they were younger. Suki recorded it on Dad’s phone and then uploaded it onto the laptop. They would email it to Uncle Abhishek.

Saturday was food shopping day. Mum was doing an extra shift, so the girls went with Dad on the bus to the supermarket. Dad had a long list of items to buy.

In the cereal aisle, he frowned at the display in front of him. “Which one do you eat again? There’s a lot of choice here,” he said.

“Crunchy cinnamon puffs,” Suki said, hanging off the trolley.

“And I have that special wheat-free muesli,” said Susannah.

Dad was about to put the packets of cereal in the trolley when Suki put her hand on his arm.

“Wait,” she grabbed a packet of supermarket ownbrand flakes off the shelf – two for one – and stared at Susannah. “These look all right.” She shrugged. “They’re oats, not wheat. We could try these for a change?”

“Really?” Dad asked, surprised.

Susannah nodded. “Definitely!”

Dad took the packets from Suki and added them to the trolley.

Suki said, “Actually Dad, you could give us the list – we’ll get everything. Grandma’s always saying how we should be more independent. We’ll use the self-scanner; it’s really fun and good for our maths.”

Dad frowned. “Are you sure?”

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“Yes, and we know where everything is because of coming here with Mum.” Susannah added, “You could wait for us in the café by the entrance.”

Dad smiled. “Well, okay. That’d be great because I need to make a couple of calls. I’ll meet you by till four in fifteen minutes then. Remember to ask the shop assistants in uniform with their name badges, or come and get me, if you need any help, all right?”

*** Even though they were laden down with shopping on the bus, Dad was in a great mood all the way home.

“You girls did a great job!” He peered at the receipt.

“Mum will be very pleased; you’ve saved us loads.” *** After dinner and their homework, Suki curled up on her bed and pulled out a notebook.

“What are you writing?” Susannah asked, as she changed into her PJs. “A budget! I’m writing down what we do as treats, but that aren’t ‘needs’, the way Mum talked about.

The cinema? We could just have our own movie night at home, couldn’t we? Even with popcorn and sweets, it’d still be cheaper than going to the cinema. Now that we’ve moved, we’re really close to the library. We should join again, that’d save loads and they have computers we could use or our homework too. I researched other ways we could save money – there’s lots we can do. Buy energy-saving lightbulbs for one thing, although they cost more upfront, the savings soon add up.”

“You’re brilliant! Those are great ideas,” Susannah said. “Can we make a start on the Christmas cards now?”

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Suki nodded and Susannah got out card, watercolours, glitter and glue from their art box. *** On Friday in class, Mrs Burrows asked the girls which charity they’d chosen to talk about. Suki and Susannah stood up and smiled at each other.

Susannah said, “We’ve chosen a homeless charity as one we think our class should support this term.”

“Could you explain to the class why?” Mrs Burrows asked. “Last time we spoke – you were in disagreement!”

“It’s a charity that helps people who don’t have a home,” Suki explained to the class. “But, we believe that everyone should have access to a home. It’s more than just a building or the things inside.”

“It’s being together,” Susannah added.. “With the people you love and who love you.”

The twins smiled at each other. This was going to the best Christmas ever – they had thought of ways to help Mum and Dad save money, plus they had wonderful homemade presents to give to the whole family.

42

Swap Shop

“So, 6B,” Mr Wilson said on Friday morning as he cleared the whiteboard, “those are some of the most influential business owners – otherwise known as entrepreneurs – of the twenty-first century.”

All week the class had been learning about successful business people and the different ways they’d made money. Kwame already knew about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, but hearing about teenagers like Fraser Doherty, who’d set up his own jam business aged just fourteen, made Kwame’s head buzz. How cool would it be to come up with a money-making idea that took off? To have your own company and be your own boss?

“We’re moving on to our own Enterprise topic now,” Mr Wilson said. “We’ll split up into groups and each

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group will come up with an idea for a stall to have at the summer fair. You might choose to focus on a service to deliver, or a product you can sell. The school will contribute ten pounds to each group for materials. You could spend that on promotion or prizes or advertising – whatever your group determines is best. Whichever stall makes the most profit will be our winner.”

“And what does the winner get?” Kwame shouted out, excited.

Mr Wilson laughed. “Well, the winners can choose a special activity for the class to participate in. Now, break time. Go and run around – burn off some energy!” ***

In the playground, Kwame and his best friends, Alya, Wasim and Malika, all started talking enthusiastically about the stall.

“What should we do?” Malika asked.

“Let’s do a game,” Wasim said. “Something you’d find at a funfair.”

“What about shooting basketballs – we could use the hoop in the playground?” Alya suggested.

“I don’t think basketballs bouncing around the place would be very safe,” Malika said. “People might fall over them.”

“And people like something they can keep,” Kwame added. “If you play a game, once you’ve played it, your money’s gone, hasn’t it?”

Wasim shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Come round mine on Sunday and we’ll decide on the right idea then.”

Owen, Kwame’s rival – they both thought they were the best footballer in their year – strolled over.

He sneered at Kwame. “We should have a competition and see whose stall makes the most.”

Kwame looked at his friends; they nodded. “All right,” he said. “You’re on! Whoever wins gets to have the footy pitch for the week.”

“Deal!” Owen walked off, laughing. *** The next day was an even better Saturday than normal because it was Kwame’s eleventh birthday. All he’d talked about for weeks was the new videogame Rocket Stormz II. At the kitchen table, with Dad and Grandad watching on, Kwame ripped open his presents: a world record book, a pair of Bluetooth headphones and a hoody.

No Rocket Stormz II. He tried to hide his disappointment.

Ever since Dad’s motorbike accident, money had been tight. Dad wheeled over to Kwame and draped his arm around his shoulder.

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“Look, I know you had your heart set on that computer game, but I’m sorry – we just can’t afford it right now. Maybe put it on your Christmas list, it’ll have come down in price by then.”

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Granddad chipped in, “When I was a boy, me and my friends used to swap toys. Someone always had something you wanted and then everyone got to have a turn.”

Kwame didn’t have the heart to explain that all his friends had different consoles, so even if they had the game he wanted, it wouldn’t be compatible.

Thinking, he chewed a mouthful of pancake, maple syrup dripping down his chin. “Dad … couldn’t I sell my old stuff on that site you use to sell your old records on?”

“Kwame!” Dad laughed. “Half your toys have pieces missing or rusted batteries. Remember that drone you crashed into a wall last Christmas? After the wing fell off, you never played with it again.”

“Or that robot which spat out foam discs,” Grandad added. “Those discs got stuck and you never touched that, either.”

That wasn’t fair! Kwame crossed his arms. “I was younger then and didn’t look after things very well, but I do now. I’ve had the games console for five years and it still works.”

Grandad cleared away the breakfast plates. “Selling things online isn’t easy, K. You’ve seen me helping your dad. We have to come up with an online description, take photos, package things up and pay for postage. Online selling is only worth it for rare items, or customised T-shirts like the ones your dad makes.”

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Dad ruffled Kwame’s curls. “Don’t be too disappointed, eh? We’re getting fish and chips for lunch, and Grandad’s said he’ll make his special watermelon lemonade that he used to have as a boy.”

Grandad got out a large glass jug from underneath the sink. “Yep, it’ll be delicious in this hot weather and will go well with your birthday cake.” *** On Sunday, Kwame and his friends sat around yelling happily while taking turns playing a football videogame.

“Pass the ball!” Alya shouted.

“Any ideas for our stall then?” Kwame asked, mashing the buttons on the controller. “We’ve only got a week.”

“What about a tin can game, knocking them down?”

Wasim asked.

Kwame shook his head. “I don’t think people will want to do that … it’d make too much noise.”

“We need to think about what sells. Friendship bracelets?” Malika said. “Who can make them?”

Wasim said, “My sister. She’s always leaving threads all round the place.”

“But she can’t make hundreds by next Saturday, can she?” Alya grumbled.

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“How about slime?” Wasim exclaimed. “Everyone in the lower years loves slime.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Kwame said. He’d seen pots of slime selling for five pounds or more, so as long as theirs was cheaper than the slime people bought in the shops…

Malika nodded. “The ingredients are cheap. It’s just glue, food colouring and something to hold it together…”

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Kwame grinned. “Okay, slime it is!” He high-fived his friends and they went back to kicking the ball around the pitch and tackling each other.

“K,” Alya yelled, enthusiastically as she scored a free kick. “Yes! You’ve levelled up. You can get that striker now.”

Alya leaned over and grabbed Kwame’s controller. “Look, just go here – to ‘options’ and bring up the ‘extras’ menu.”

A few clicks later, Kwame had the latest striker and beat the rest of them 3–0! *** On Monday morning, Kwame’s dad was at the kitchen table, staring at his laptop, looking confused.

“Kwame, come over here.”

Kwame shoved his lunchbox into his backpack.

“I’ve got go, or I’ll be late.”

“Just a second.” Dad pointed to the screen. “See that?”

Kwame’s eyes followed Dad’s finger. He read out loud: “Game network purchase.” He gulped.

Dad’s eyes narrowed. “Did you buy something online for one of your games?”

“No. Well, I–I... I don’t know! Not on purpose.

Alya told me I could get this free striker if I just clicked on this—” 51

Dad sighed loudly and rubbed his hand across his face. “Listen. The games console has my bank details stored on it for when we buy films. That striker wasn’t free! It actually cost five pounds.”

Kwame had no idea! He stared at the floor.

“I’m sorry, Dad.” His dad shook his head. “Look, if something online like that looks too good to be true – then it probably is.

Never click on ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Free Offer’ without checking with me first, okay? Even though it’s just onscreen, items are still being bought with real money.”

“I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine.” Dad reached over to hug him. “It’s really easy to make these mistakes; even Grandad’s done it!

But, you ought to know about this stuff by now. You’ll need to do some extra jobs around the house to pay me back, all right?” *** After school, Kwame and his friends crammed into Kwame’s bathroom. Making up different slime recipes from watching videos online, pretty soon the bathroom looked like a bomb had hit it. They each had a bowl in front of them on a towel and were surrounded by washingup capsules, contact lens solution, baking powder, baby oil, glue and soap.

“This one’s just sticky,” Malika said, holding up a wooden spoon. Pink runny goo oozed off it.

Kwame sighed. “And the others?” He peered into the other bowls, shaking his head at all the gloopy mess.

“What are we going to do?” Alya wailed. “We can’t spend any more! We need the other five pounds for sweets to draw in the customers.”

“Maybe we don’t have to spend a whole five pounds on sweets?” Wasim said. “We need to think of another idea that’s cheap or free. The fair is in two days.”

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Kwame remembered something his grandad had said.

“You’ve all got younger brothers and sisters, haven’t you?

Could you see if they’ve got any old toys they don’t use any more – we could sell those?”

Alya wrinkled up his nose. “My sister just dribbles on everything. No one would pay money for her chewed cloth books.”

“But hasn’t she got like a million of those Sylvanian Family things?”

“Yeah. She’s gone off them now though,” Alya said.

“That’s exactly what people will want!” Kwame cried.

“And Malika, isn’t your sister Star Wars mad?”

“Used to be,” Malika said. “It’s Doctor Who now, but yeah, I could bring some of her old annuals to the stall.

Not sure she’ll give it up for nothing though.”

Kwame said, “It could be swapped for stuff she’s into now.”

Malika shook her head. “But how do we make any money then?”

Kwame thought about it. “Maybe people could pay a fee to join?”

“Like how gyms charge a membership fee and then let you use the equipment!” Wasim smiled. “And, maybe we could like, set up our own business – have a swap day once a month or something?”

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*** After his friends went home, Kwame looked through his own cupboards for items to put on their swap stall.

They’d all agreed to bring old toys and games or else the stall would be bare. Soon, he’d filled a plastic bag with cuddly toys, stacking blocks, construction bricks without instructions, and picture books. Nothing new, but they were good enough to still be played with.

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*** Saturday morning rolled around – the summer fair. The sky was clear and bright. At 10 a.m. the gates opened, and the playground was soon bustling. A bouncy castle and doughnut stand were next to each other. That’s asking for trouble, Kwame thought. *** The stalls run by 6B were set up around the edge of the playing field. They were colourful and varied: cakes for sale, a plastic bottle hoop game, temporary tattoos and face painting. Kwame’s competition – Owen’s group – had a ‘Throw a Wet Sponge at the Teacher’ game. That looked fun; who wouldn’t love to throw a soggy sponge at a teacher! The queue was massive. Kwame gulped – there was no way their Swap Shop would ever beat that.

*** Kwame looked at their stall, hopefully. Even though it was mostly thrown together last minute, it didn’t look too empty. Everyone had brought something. Although the stall was 75 per cent cuddly toys, there were also puzzles, books, squishies and DVDs. “What’s this then?” a woman asked, rocking a dribbling baby.

“A swap shop,” Malika said. “You pay fifty pence to be a member and then you can borrow whatever you want for a week.”

“Hmm.” She held the baby at an angle, and he swiped at the cuddly toys.

“But how do I return what I’ve borrowed?” she said, looking confused.

Alya and Wasim both shrugged. The woman took a gummy bear from the free sweets bowl and soon wandered off to a stall selling iced cakes.

“We should have made those for members only,” Wasim moaned, slapping a hand to his forehead. *** Mr Wilson stopped by. “Tell me about your stall then.

What made you decide on this idea?”

Kwame swallowed. How to answer? The woman was right; he hadn’t really thought this through. If they were only here today, no one would be able to swap anything, they’d only be able to borrow and how would they bring things back? What was the point? Maybe they could change ideas and instead just sell everything off?

The sweat trickled down his back as Mr Wilson stared at him, waiting.

“We … wanted to show that ... you don’t need to keep buying new toys and stuff. Someone’s rubbish might be another person’s treasure, you know?” He grinned, getting into his idea. “It’s good for the planet too, right?

We even have some money left over, not much but a couple of pounds.”

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Mr Wilson smiled. “I like that, Kwame. In fact, I’ll sign up. My daughter’s been wanting one of those micro pets for ages, but they’ve stopped making them now and there’s no way I’m paying the crazy prices advertised online.”

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*** After Mr Wilson had left, Kwame looked around the playground. The sky was cloudless, and now, at 11 a.m., it was boiling. People rolled up their sleeves and gathered in the shady areas under the classroom awnings. The drinks stall had a ‘Sold Out’ sign, and a large queue gathered at the only water fountain. ***

Kwame thought that a glass of Grandad’s lovely ice-cold watermelon lemonade would go down well right about now. That thought suddenly gave him an idea. “We’ve got three pounds left, right?” He turned to Wasim. “Can I borrow your phone?” *** Ten minutes later, Kwame’s grandad turned up at the stall with three jugs of ice-cold watermelon lemonade.

“Hey!” Owen yelled across the playground. “Getting your grandad to bring drinks to sell is cheating!”

“No, it’s not!” Kwame shouted back. “We paid for the lemons and watermelon out of our leftover budget, thanks very much!”

Alya grumbled, “He should mind his own business…”

Malika and Wasim started pouring out lemonade into plastic cups.

“Roll up! Roll up!” Alya cried, loudly. “Swap Shop membership just fifty pence and includes a FREE glass of this delicious homemade lemonade!” ***

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Soon enough, their stall had a long line of people. Alya wrote down everyone’s email or mobile number in the ledger. Malika tore off the raffle ticket that served as their membership card and on the back wrote down the toys that they’d borrowed and the date they were due back.

For now, they’d decided on next Friday, after school. *** “Well done!” Mr Wilson said, nodding at their long queue approvingly. “After a slow start, looks like your lemonade has brought the customers flocking!”

Kwame asked, “Have we won then? Did we make the most money?”

Mr Wilson shook his head. “No, sorry, I’m sure that Owen’s stall has the biggest profit so far. But this swap shop idea actually has legs.”

“What, Sir?” Malika asked, puzzled.

“This is exactly the kind of thing the PTA would consider making a regular after-school feature. It really does encourage reducing waste. Next lesson, we’ll discuss how to write a business plan. Good job!” ***

Kwame lifted up a plastic cup of lemonade and he, Alya, Wasim and Malika all toasted each other. “Here’s to us, the Swap Shop Entrepreneurs team!”

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Want to learn how to look after your cash? These fun stories are right on the money. not a Fairy Good Idea

Get your teeth into this story about the tooth fairy and her magical money advice.

Suki and Susannah Save Christmas

When two smart girls work together, the savings and sisterhood add right up.

Swap Shop

A school challenge gives a group of friends the chance to cash in on success.

Supported by

Money Heroes is a programme from Young Money, supported by HSBC UK. Young Money is part of Young Enterprise, a registered charity (charity number: 313697)

Scholastic.co.uk