{"id":1830,"date":"2009-10-24T08:48:17","date_gmt":"2009-10-24T13:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/archives\/1830"},"modified":"2009-10-24T08:48:17","modified_gmt":"2009-10-24T13:48:17","slug":"teaching-economics-with-childrens-literature-fleas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/2009\/10\/24\/teaching-economics-with-childrens-literature-fleas\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Economics with Children’s Literature: Fleas"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Fleas<\/a>,\u00a0written\u00a0by Jeanne Steig & illustrated by\u00a0Britt Spencer,\u00a0is a comical look at bartering.<\/p>\n

With it’s\u00a0quirky characters and colorful pictures, Fleas <\/em>is all about bartering. The main character Quantz starts off by rubbing a dog in his garden and catching his fleas. He trades the fleas for a talkative old uncle and the uncle for some cheese. The bartering continues on until Quantz\u00a0at the end of bartering has\u00a0a bone.\u00a0Fleas <\/em>has\u00a0touches of rhyming, “A wig! What a glorious thingamajig!” It also incorporates snippets of alliteration “The tiny creatures dance graceful gavottes, fancy fandangos, and riotous rhumbas.”At the end of the story, Quantz sees the dog, and they step inside a tent where all of the characters,\u00a0along with\u00a0all of their trades, have made a circus.<\/p>\n

Curriculum Connections<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fleas\u00a0is a great resource when you are studying bartering. It talks about how you can trade an item with someone else, if that person wants the item you are wanting to trade. It is connected to VA SOL Social Studies Economics 2.8 The student will distinguish between the use of barter and the use of money in the exchange for goods and services.<\/p>\n

Additional Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n