My Rows and Piles of Coins
Picture Book Read Aloud
book summary
This book tells the story of a child in Africa who helps his mother sell goods at the market. His mother gives Saruni a few coins each time he helps and encourages him to take a look in the market to see what he’d like to buy. Saruni will walk the the market to look at all the tempting food and toys, but he never buys anything because he wants to save his money to buy a new bike. Saruni is hoping to buy a book so that he can help carry heavier things to the market for his mom.
When Saruni thinks he has saved enough money, he takes his savings to buy the bike, but the bike seller just laughs at him for thinking he would be able to buy a bike for such a small amount of money. Saruni’s parents are proud of how hard he has worked to save the money and surprise him with a bike. So, Saruni starts savings his money to buy a cart so that his mom can carry more stuff to the market.
Saruni is a great example that hard work and perseverance pay off. Readers will get a close look at how hard it is to save money, resist the temptation to frivolous things, and the reward that often comes with hard work and perseverance.
suggested teaching point
On page 8, take the opportunity to discuss the author’s choice of words and use of a simile.
Saruni says, “Soon I would be like a cheetah on wheels.” This phrase is a simile and was used by the author to help the reader better understand how Saruni envisioned himself riding the bike soon. A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two different things using the words “like” or “as”. Think of other similes the author could have used that would have had the same meaning. Soon, I would be like a _________.
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