Advice books for grade schoolers, teens can be good stocking stuffers

NEW YORK (AP) -- Still hunting for stocking stuffers for your grade schoolers or teens? You might take a look at some of the new books on personal finance, investing and organizing that aim to give children a jump on learning life skills.

And if you read over your child's shoulder, you might learn a few things yourself.

''There are basically three types of money books for kids,'' said Harry Edwards, business books specialist at Amazon.com. ''Among the most popular are those that help kids learn to do a little business for themselves. There also are investment guides, mainly for teenagers. And there are books for parents who want to help their kids with money issues.''

While children's financial books are not hot sellers like the Harry Potter series, they do have a following, Edwards said. That's especially true of kids' books that ''coattail'' on adult series, such as Robert T. Kiyosaki's ''Rich Dad's Rich Kid, Smart Kid: Giving Your Children a Financial Headstart'' and ''The Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens: 8 Steps to Having more Money Than Your Parents Ever Dreamed of'' by David and Tom Gardner.

One of the newly published books, ''Organizing from the Inside Out for Teens,'' is the work of professional organizer Julie Morgenstern and her 17-year-old daughter, Jessi Morgenstern-Colon.

They got the idea for the book when Julie Morgenstern visited her daughter's seventh grade class to talk about career opportunities and ended up answering dozens of questions from the students on how to organize their rooms, their desks and their time.

''I think a lot of students feel overwhelmed by what they have to do,'' Jessi said. ''Being organized in your things and your time gives you a sense of control.''

Jessi -- who wrote sections of the book with organizing techniques that work for her -- admits that she didn't put her own stuff in order until junior high school. That's when a teacher didn't record the grade on a paper she had written, and she couldn't find the paper to prove she had done the work.

Now Jessi divides her school notebooks into current projects, graded work, and class notes and handouts; and she has corresponding files at home for completed work.

She keeps her bedroom neat with special ''zones'' for things like music, books and cosmetics. A calendar helps her keep track of dance lessons, youth group activities and dates with friends.

New editions have been published this year of two children's books by financial adviser Adriane G. Berg and her son, Arthur Berg Bochner -- ''The Totally Awesome Money Book for Kids'' and ''The Totally Awesome Business Book for Kids.'' Bochner, who is 20 and a student at the University of Pennsylvania, also has a new title of his own, ''Things: Collecting for Kids and Their Families.''

Berg believes the books can help children in ways that parents sometimes can't.

''A lot of adults waste emotions and time because they aren't prepared to handle financial issues,'' Berg said. ''It's important to get the message out to kids because this is a life skill.''

Berg said her goal was to make the subjects fun, which is why she included games, puzzles and cartoons in the books.

The Money Book has a chapter on budgeting, a topic many parents avoid, she noted.

''Some kids are willing to sit down with pencils and paper and do it,'' Berg said. ''Then there are kids who like to spend and won't sit down. A budget for them (more like one for many adults) is, single out one thing and don't buy it.''