--- title: Sharon Philbrick Created a Children's Book Series That Teaches Economics Without a Single Lesson description: Clara Stories uses gentle coastal stories, invisible coins and a character called Airius to introduce six-year-olds to money, fairness and AI, with companion... author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-05-19T07:16:34.916Z updated: 2026-06-29T08:43:58.992Z canonical: https://richwoman.co/article/sharon-philbrick-created-a-children-s-book-series-that-teaches-economics-without-a-single-lesson image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/Clara Books image fanned_LE_upscale_prime_x4.jpg categories: Fiction content_type: Spotlight publication: Rich Books about: - type: Person name: Sharon Philbrick description: Economist and author of Clara Stories, a five-book children's series that introduces financial literacy, technology and critical thinking through coastal fairy tales. Also wrote Bitcoin for Xers. A Director at LifeLine in the Cayman Islands. url: https://clarastories.com jobTitle: Author, Clara Stories sameAs: - https://www.instagram.com/clarastoriesbooks - https://www.tiktok.com/@clarastoriesbooks --- Sharon Philbrick is an economist who has spent her career making complicated subjects less frightening. Her latest project, Clara Stories, is a five-book children's series for ages six to nine that introduces saving, fairness, banking systems, artificial intelligence and the nature of value through gentle coastal stories rather than explaining them outright. ### The Clara Stories Series - [Clara and the Invisible Coins](https://www.amazon.com/dp/9798994933701) by Sharon Philbrick - [Clara and the Fair Play Rules](https://www.amazon.com/dp/9798994933725) by Sharon Philbrick - [Clara and the Cloud Bank](https://www.amazon.com/dp/9798994933732) by Sharon Philbrick - [Clara and the Thinking Machine](https://www.amazon.com/dp/9798994933749) by Sharon Philbrick - [Clara and the Little Tin Jar](https://www.amazon.com/dp/9798994933756) by Sharon Philbrick ## How Clara Stories Teaches Children About Money Through Stories The series is set in a coastal town where a girl called Clara explores the world with her dog Max and her grandmother, Grandma Ada. Each book works as a self-contained story. The first, Clara and the Invisible Coins, is about trust, generosity and how value grows when it is shared. The second, Clara and the Fair Play Rules, quietly introduces ideas related to shared systems, fairness, and the importance of rules everyone can see and trust. The third, Clara and the Cloud Bank, explores balance, cooperation, and the idea that different clouds can work together in different ways, gently introducing children to themes of diversification and resilience. The concepts sit underneath the narrative, never on top of it. "Children don't need complexity," Sharon says. "They need clarity. These stories are designed to help them feel how things work before they ever need to name them." > "Children don't need complexity. They need clarity. These stories are designed to help them feel how things work before they ever need to name them." > — Sharon Philbrick That approach sets Clara Stories apart from most childrens books about economics and money on the market. The dominant titles in this space, the Tuttle Twins series chief among them, take a direct instructional approach: here is what a budget is, here is what inflation does. Sharon's books do none of that. The financial literacy is embedded in the story itself, in watercolour illustrations by Adesanwo Damilare that show a world where coins are invisible and banks float in clouds. It is a similar philosophy to [Hope For The Future](https://richbooksmagazine.com/article/hope-for-the-future-childrens-book-polar-bear-climate), another recent children's book that uses narrative and art to introduce complex subjects to young readers rather than explaining them directly. ## Why an Economist Started Writing Childrens Books About Money Sharon's earlier work, Bitcoin for Xers, did much the same thing for a different audience: it explained cryptocurrency to middle-aged sceptics using plain language and familiar examples rather than jargon. Clara Stories applies the same instinct to a younger readership. The shift from adult finance writing to children's publishing came from watching her own daughters. Bedtime reading became a nightly conversation about how the world worked, and Sharon noticed that the questions children ask, about fairness, about why some people have more than others, about whether machines can think, are the same questions economists spend careers trying to answer. The difference is that children ask them without pretending to already know. She is also a Director at LifeLine in the Cayman Islands, a nonprofit that maintains the territory's AED database and trains communities in CPR. The role shares a thread with her publishing work: both are about making critical knowledge accessible to people who are not specialists. ## What Makes Clara Stories Different From Other Financial Literacy Books Each book in the series comes with a free downloadable companion guide for parents and educators. The guides include discussion questions, reflection activities and classroom exercises, and they are written to be supportive rather than instructional. Sharon designed them for adults who may not have a background in finance or economics but want to have real conversations with their children about the world. The fourth book, Clara and the Thinking Machine, introduces a character called Airius, a small machine that always has answers. Clara learns that the best answers come not from machines but from listening, caring and making brave choices. It is, without ever naming the technology, a children's book about artificial intelligence and what it cannot replace. The fifth, Clara and the Little Tin Jar, is the most direct of the five: Clara saves one coin at a time and learns that waiting is not about deprivation but about growing stronger. Even here, the lesson arrives through story rather than instruction. **About Sharon Philbrick** Author, Clara Stories Economist and author of Clara Stories, a five-book children's series that introduces financial literacy, technology and critical thinking through coastal fairy tales. Also wrote Bitcoin for Xers. A Director at LifeLine in the Cayman Islands. [Website](https://clarastories.com) ## FAQ **Q: What age should kids learn financial literacy?** Most child development research supports introducing basic money concepts between the ages of five and seven, when children begin to understand exchange, fairness and delayed gratification. Picture books and stories work well at this stage because they let children absorb ideas through narrative rather than instruction. **Q: What is the best finance book for kids?** It depends on the child's age and how direct you want the teaching to be. For ages six to nine, Clara Stories by Sharon Philbrick takes a narrative approach, embedding financial concepts in fairy tales rather than explaining them outright. The Tuttle Twins series is more explicit and covers a wider age range. For younger children, The Four Money Bears by Mac Gardner uses characters to represent saving, investing, spending and giving. **Q: How do I teach my 6 year old about money?** Start with everyday situations: shopping, saving for a toy, choosing between two things they want. Books that use stories rather than lessons tend to hold attention longer at this age. Companion guides, like those included with the Clara Stories series, give parents discussion prompts so the conversation can continue after the book is closed. **Q: How to explain AI to a 7 year old?** Keep it concrete. A seven-year-old can understand that a computer can learn patterns and give answers, but that it does not feel, care or make choices the way people do. Clara and the Thinking Machine, the fourth book in the Clara Stories series, uses a character called Airius to explore this idea through story: a small machine that always has answers, but whose answers are not the same as wisdom.