Dr Wayne Dyer has made a pretty solid living out of his philosophical and spiritually-driven belief that life is essentially abundant - and it's how we view the world and interact with it that determines our happiness. Even if his philosophies are not your thing, there's no doubt an ebook for kids on the perils of more more more is kind of timely.
Layby? Waiting in line? Walking? A five second delay on the telephone line? God forbid our kids should ever have anything less than now now now, instant and convenient and comfortable and the 'latest thing'.
While all of these things certainly have their merits, our kids are in danger of losing a strong work ethic, self-belief and confidence, and the capacity to strive and achieve. I do believe kids are also losing a solid and healthy attitude towards money and its role in our lives.
As Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers, hopefully most of us still hold onto and operate under 'old-fashioned' ethics that many of our Gen-Y babies are losing or have already lost - that frightening lack of self-effacement or that the world owes them something.
The premise behind It's Not What You've Got is certainly nothing new, but Dyer has taken the concept and created a heart-warming book that's thankfully low on schmaltz but still high on the feel good factor.
With adorable illustrations and rhyming prose, the book takes kids through several concepts from 'you're not what you've got!' through 'it doesn't matter what they have' through 'money does not create happiness' and 'you have the power to get what you want'. It encourages a healthy, interactive attitude to money and possessions whilst maintaining childlike levels of understanding.
No, the principles in this book don't promise airy fairy attainment à la The Secret, but they do operate on positivity, rational thought processes, self-belief, hard work and the importance of dreaming big and believing in abundance... with a nice little back-up stating that abundance does not necessarily mean wads of cash.
There is not a large amount of interactivity in this book - just the opportunity to tap on words that are read aloud. Gentle music and gorgeous images by Kristina Tracy are a highlight, and questions are posed at the end of the book to help with retention. There are even positive affirmation 'cards' at the end of the app to help kids gain a more spiritual understanding of the concepts of abundance and money.
A helpful app for both home and schools.
It's Not What You've Got is distributed by Oceanhouse Media and is available on iTunes for $3.99.
