UM lecturers use picture books to teach children about money

Free Malaysia Today

06-06-2025

Lecturers Shalini Nadaswaran (left) and Vandana Saxena teach kids financial literacy through picture books. (Dinesh Kumar Maganathan @ FMT Lifestyle)
PETALING JAYA : An eight-year-old boy from an orphanage sat quietly after a picture-book reading, then raised his hand. 'One day,' he said, 'I want to work, make money, and build a house. Not just for me but for my parents, my siblings, and my uncle, so we can all live together.'
He wasn't just echoing the lesson of the book, in which children give their savings to their parents; he was going further. The boy envisioned financial independence not as a personal goal, but as a way of uplifting his entire family.
This powerful moment unfolded during a financial literacy workshop by Universiti Malaya (UM) lecturers Shalini Nadaswaran and Vandana Saxena, who use picture books to teach seven- to nine-year-olds about saving, spending and planning.
'It's personal for both of us,' said Shalini. 'We're mothers, and we see how children today are surrounded by advertising. They know how to spend but don't necessarily understand the value of money.'
Shalini, whose academic work centres on African women's literature, and Vandana, who specialises in children's and young-adult fiction, saw how picture books could bridge economic theory and lived experience.
While the current materials are western picture books, Shalini and Vandana aim to curate more localised content. (Dinesh Kumar Maganathan @ FMT Lifestyle)
'When we read picture books through the lens of literary criticism, especially around economics, we started seeing connections,' Vandana, an Indian national, explained.
'We wanted to bring this into real communities – especially with children from vulnerable backgrounds.'
Their 1.5-hour workshop began with a simple question: what would you do with RM100?
'Some wanted cars, jewellery, designer clothes. Others said ice cream. And some, especially from more vulnerable backgrounds, had no idea how money is earned,' Shalini recalled.
Then came the read-aloud session – 'The Berenstain Bears' Let's Talk About Money'. The story follows two bear siblings who spend recklessly, and learn to earn and save.
But it's what happened after the story that really matters. The same RM100 question was posed again – and this time, there was a shift.
'One girl who initially wanted to buy jewellery suddenly said she would make her own and sell it,' Shalini shared. 'Another boy said he'd now save his money in a bank – because otherwise, he might lose it.'
By the end of each session, participants show a new understanding of money. (Shalini Nadaswaran pic)
The children begin to grasp not just the idea of money, but the principles of earning and saving. 'You could see the wheels turning in their minds. They were beginning to think about money in ways they hadn't before.'
So far, Shalini and Vandana have conducted just two workshops – one at a school and another at an orphanage – since they started early this year. A recurring challenge, they pointed out, is the lack of locally relevant picture books.
'There are certain things that are very Asian, like charity and giving to the poor,' Vandana explained. 'We do not see these in the books we use, even though these are different kinds of value systems we need to pay attention to.'
So, they're laying the groundwork to write and curate their own content – 'something more localised for children so that, when they read the books, the setting is familiar and the understanding becomes easier'.
But why teach children about money at all? 'It's an everyday reality,' Vandana noted. 'We need to mould them to have an understanding of money. Our children can't be stooges of capitalism.'
Shalini and Vandana believe financial literacy should start at home. (Dinesh Kumar Maganathan @ FMT Lifestyle)
This is where storytelling becomes key: it's not just about understanding money – it's about the experience of listening, and of imagining different choices.
'The children were spellbound when we read out loud,' Shalini said. 'You get kids with different levels of understanding. So, you must meet everyone's needs.'
They hope to scale the project to more schools, orphanages, NGOs, and Orang Asli communities. Acknowledging their limits, Shalini and Vandana are creating free digital resources – lesson plans, story-based activities, and teacher guides – so others can run the programme even without them.
Both lecturers ultimately believe financial literacy starts at home. 'Be open. Talk about spending, saving, earning. Children understand more than we give them credit for,' said Shalini.
But this openness doesn't mean saying 'yes' to everything. 'Even simple lines like 'that's expensive, let's revisit this later' can build habits. It moves children away from instant gratification.'