My Rows and Piles of Coins (Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Books)

My Rows and Piles Of Coins

By

Tololwa M. Mollel

My Rows and Piles of Coins is about a little boy name Saruni. Saruni lives in a village in Tanzania. Everyday Saruni helps his mother carry merchandise to the market. Saruni wants to save enough money up to buy a bicycle to help his mother carry some of

Show More

the merchandise to the market. Unfortunately when Saruni goes to buy the bicycle he does not have enough coins. But because of Saruni’s motive for wanting the bicycle he is given a much greater reward for his hard work.

I really enjoyed reading this book; I thought it had a really good story. The book is beautifully illustrated with water color painting. According to the text book the book would be consider to be a culturally generic book. This indicates that the book focuses on the characters that represent a cultural group and few details are included that show how the culture influences the character’s life.

After reading this multicultural book to my second graders we will look at the pictures in the book I will have the students point out the different things that take place in this culture. In the book it discusses how the children go to school in what we call our summer. The book also describes how our summer months are their cooler months.

After discussing the different kind of cultural Surina lives in I will have the students relate to the scenario of the story. I will have the students get out their journals and write about a time that they have saved money for something the wanted and tell about the process and how much money they had to save. Or they can write about something they would like to save their money for and why.

Show Less

A young boy in Tanzania saves the money he earns while working in the market with his mother. He is saving to buy a bicycle, which he believes will allow him to help his parents more at home. Although the other kids often ridicule him, he practises every chance he gets and, with the help of his

Show More

father, he eventually learns. When he finally saves 350 coins he runs to the bike shop only to find out that, although 350 coins is an enormous amount to a young boy, it is no where near enough to buy a bicycle. Dejected, he returns home to Yoyo, but a surprise awaits.
This beautifully illustrated and wonderful tale manages to introduce themes that speak to experiences both universal and uniquely African.

Show Less

This is the story of a young Tanzanian boy who saves the money his mother gives him for helping out at the market. He is saving his money in order to buy a bike. He believes that a bike will help him family transport things to the market. Each week he saves and counts his rows of money. When he

Show More

goes to buy his bike he is told that he doesn’t have enough money, but he goes home to find a nice surprise.

I loved this book. You rarely find Children’s literature about children in Africa and their family lives. It is beautifully illustrated and has great vocabulary.

This is book I would use for a classroom fundraiser. We would discuss how to raise money for a field trip, new playground equipment, etc. Then I would have the students write in their journals their experiences with saving money.

Show Less

A young Tanzanian boy, helps his mother every Saturday, taking goods to market in order to survive. His mother pays him 10 ten-cent coins for his work, she tells him to go and buy something. As he looks around the market, he sees a blue and red bicycle, and decides he will save his money as buy the

Show More

bicycle. He saves his money and practices riding his fathers bicycle, he even learns how to ride a loaded bike, so that he can help his mother on market days by carrying a load on his bike. He finally saves 350 ten-cent coins and decides it is time to by the bicycle. When he goes to the man selling them, he is laughed at because a bicycle costs 150 shillings. He is very disappointed and walks home with his mother, later that day his father arrives home on a motorcycle. His fathers says that he will sell the boy his bicycle for 350 ten-cent coins, then returns the money, saying it is a reward for helping his parents so much. The next Saturday he walks his loaded bicycle to market and thinks of buying a cart so his mother will not have to carry a load on her head.

I enjoyed this book, and felt it was a good cultural contrast from the American society that children know. The book shows the value of family and hard work. Children would get a glimpse into a world that is much different then their own, where children have to help parents to pay the bills.

1.) Children can make a list of the things that they currently do to help their parents at home. Also have the children write one thing that they could do to help further at home.
2.) Have children write a story about something that they wanted so badly that they work hard enough to get it.

Show Less

This book is about Saruni, a young Tazanian boy, who is saving up his coins to purchase a bicycle. Saruni helps his mother sell merchandise in the market place. His soul purpose to purchase a bicylcle was so that he could help his mother haul goods to the marketplace without having to carry them.

Show More

When he father purchases a motor bike, he decides to give Saruni his bicycle for all of Saruni hard work and dedication to help his mother.

This book was really sweet. I felt it was really heart-warming for a son to want to help his mother as much as Saruni wanted to help his. The pictures were beautiful and really brought the story to life!!

Classroom extentsion: 1) A lesson could be taught to the students about the concept of saving money. 2) Also, students could learn about the Tazanian culture.

Show Less

A young boy carefully saves his ten-cent coins in order to purchase a shiny read and blue bicycle he admires every week at market. With this prize, he hopes to help his mother carry her burden of produce. Once realizing her son's generous ambitions, she finds a way to gift him first. The kindnesses

Show More

multiply and the reader is shown how one good turn can lead to the next. The gorgeous watercolor illustration dramatize beautifully the emotional qualities of this story and show quite vividly life in rural Tanzania.

Show Less

A young Tanzanian boy named Saruni longs to buy a bicycle so he can help his mother carry goods to the marketplace. He spots his bike – a beautiful red and blue one – and begins to save his money. Each time he earns some money, he pulls out his secret money box and lines his coins up in rows.

Show More

He finally believes he has enough money and is crestfallen when the bicyle man laughs at him and the amount of money he brought in order to buy a bicycle. His parents learn of his disappointment and his dad sells him his own bicycle for the amount of money Saruni has saved. Then unexpectedly, he gives Saruni back his money.

This was such a sweet book about the sacrificial love this boy had for his parents and they for him. I also liked how it showed that even across the world, children in other cultures have difficulty learning to ride a bike for the first time. In addition, just as my children think a quarter is enough to buy anything they want in a toy story, there are little boys in Tanzania having difficult with the concept of money too. There are more similarities across cultures than there are differences.

In a classroom, I think it would be fun to have a “Price is Right” game where they guess how much items cost and then use paper money to count and purchase the item. There are also several pages with illustrations and text that describe the Tanzanian marketplace. It would be interesting to take a field trip to an outdoor market and compare the two. If they were Saruni, what would they pick out at the marketplace for which they would save their money?

Show Less

Sunlit watercolors and a simple first-person narrative tell the story of Saruni, a young Tanzanian boy, determined to save up enough money to buy a bicycle. He earns money by helping his parents at the market and wishes he had a bike so he could be more helpful by carrying bigger loads of food to

Show More

sell. Saruni carefully saves up his coins until he is sure he is rich enough to buy a bicycle, but the bicycle vendor laughs at his meager savings. His parents are so touched by his intention of buying a bike to help them that they "sell" him the father's bike for thirty shillings and fifty cents, the amount he had saved up, and then give him his money back. The story ends with Saruni scheming to use his savings to help his family even more.

This is a sweet, innocent story of a good kid who wants to help his parents and who learns about saving, value, and generosity along the way. The illustrations are realistic and painterly, beautifully capturing the expressions and the setting. Some illustrations cover entire spreads with text laid over the background, others are contained in a single page, while still others are small vignettes adorning white pages of text. This visual variety is aesthetically pleasing and is used skillfully to enhance the narrative through illustrations of key moments. Although the story is rather simplistic and moralistic, it can be used to introduce lessons about the value of money, work, and economics in elementary school classrooms. The story is set in the time and place of the author's childhood, 1960s Tanzania; the author's note explains this setting and includes a brief glossary of the Tanzanian words used.

My Rows and Piles of Coins, winner of the 2000 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, is a good choice for elementary school libraries in which it supports the curriculum and may be a nice addition to children's public library collections, but it is not a necessary purchase. While the illustrations are gorgeous and the Tanzanian setting is authentic, the storyline is not particularly outstanding.

Show Less

A warm family story set in Tanzania in the 1960s. Saruni is a picture of determination as he learns to ride his father's big bicycle and saves his small earnings to buy one of his own in order to help his mother deliver her goods to market. After months of work, he takes his coins to the bicycle

Show More

seller, who adds them up and responds with humiliating laughter. However, Saruni is rewarded when his father buys a motorbike and "sells" his old bicycle to his son. In the end, Saruni's parents refuse his payment, preferring to give him the bike as a reward for his help. At story's end, he is again saving his coins-this time to buy a cart to pull behind his bicycle and further lighten his mother's load. The first-person story contains several universal childhood experiences: the pride in persevering and gaining a new skill and in making an unselfish contribution to the family. Since the narrative focus is on the boy's own goals, the story is natural and never excessively moralistic. The fluid, light-splashed watercolor illustrations lend a sense of place and authenticity. Watching Saruni's savings mount visually is a nice touch. A short glossary gives the meaning and pronunciation of frequently used words, which is helpful for students. This story is helpful for teaching children the value of money and an introductory lesson about money. You can read this story before you begin teaching about money, which can be a difficult lesson for some children.

Show Less

My Rows and Piles of Coins is set in Tanzania, Africa. In this story, the protagonist is a Maasai boy, living in a rural northern area. This book provides a look at the more typical experiences of a family engaged in farming and trade. Saruni helps both his parents, especially his mother. Using an

Show More

old wheelbarrow he hauls his mother's beans, corn, pumpkins and other crops to market. He saves the coins he earns helping his mother, waiting for the day he can buy the bicycle he has his heart set on. Periodically he counts his coins, placing them in rows and piles. Eventually, he gets a bike but it is not new. He is delighted he has a bike of his own, one that he can use to help his mother. This is a wonderful book to share with children. The setting is authentic, the characters are admirable, and the resolution is inspiring and noble. Saruni is a boy to look up to. Like his parents, he is kind, generous, and good-natured. The story also presents opportunities for discussing a number of topics. Lewis’ illustrations complement and extend the text. As always, his careful research of place and people is reflected in his pictures. The synergy presented in this book is mood and tone. The pictures show expression of the people exactly the way the text explains the characters moods. A glossary of Maasai terms and author's note about Tanzanian currency complete the book. Every elementary school will want a copy of this one.

Show Less

(Multicultural, easy, fiction)Saruni helps his mother at the market each week and is rewarded with a small allowance. He longs to buy things at the market, but his desire to buy a bike to help his mom carry her load is stronger. He saves as much as he can, but when the time comes to make his

Show More

purchase, he is laughed at by the bicycle vendor because it is still not enough. Murete (father figure) has just purchased himself a motor scooter. When he hears of Saruni's selfless act, he gives him his bicycle and lets him keep his money. True to Saruni's character, he know starts dreaming about buying a cart for his mom. This book was very good in so far as illustrating the importance of perseverance, determination and patience. It teaches us that good things come to those that wait and that selflessness will be rewarded. Good Karma, what goes around comes around; all those saying apply here. Certainly a valid lesson to read to a school age child. A fun activity would be to count out change or have the class save for a purchase together. Children could discuss what they would purchase with money and why.

Show Less

Saruni has saved for months to buy a bicycle to carry goods to sell at market, but still doens't have enough money! Will he ever realize his dream? This beautifully illustrated story is sure to warm hearts and start conversations about self-sacrifice, family, and the Tanzanian way of life.

The boy works and saves his money to buy a present for his mother. This book supports personality. Also this book encourange children to save money and make people happy.
Ages: 3-5
Sources: Pierce College Ft. Steilacoom

A boy wants a bike to be able to help his mother, so he saves up his money.

Recommended Age: PreK

cute story about earning money, saving for a special purchase and making sacrifices for one's family.

This story is about a little boy saving his coins for a red and blue bicycle. He wants to purchase the bike to help his mother with carrying heavy items. He is disappointed to find out that he hadn't saved enough for the bicycle. Good book for children to show responsibility and being helpful.

Beautiful, emotional water color illustrations and authentic story of Tanzanian boy and dream of owning his own bike will make you feel like you are in the story watching Saruni and his mother Yeyo in loving family relationship.

This picture book seems to be geared towards older beginning readers. This story has longer sentences and paragraphs than some of the other picture books in my list. Good lesson-teaching story.