Financial education begins with a story…
StoryWise helps parents build the right money habits in young children through the power of storytelling and supports these stories with simple parent/child activities at the back of each book.
Concepts like delayed gratification, saving for a rainy day and consuming less than you earn have been woven into these engaging stories.
We are passionate about building foundations for financial literacy in children so that they can make better money decisions that will serve them for the rest of their lives.
Amazon Reviews
StoryWise works in two ways: through reading and doing.
Read the stories (from age 2).
Our stories use the power of story and rhyme to model the right principles and behaviors.
Do the activities (from age 4).
Do the simple saving activities at the back of the book to help develop the right saving habits.
Check out the resources page for free downloadable guides and tools
The research
Research by behavioural and educational experts, Dr David Whitebread and Dr Sue Bingham of the University of Cambridge (2013) found that our approach to money, such as delaying gratification and planning ahead, is set by the age of seven.
The power of story
Our brains are wired for story. For thousands of years, storytelling was a powerful survival tool for sharing knowledge and remembering life-saving information. It was also a way of passing down cultural beliefs, traditions and history to future generations.
Here to help
Our mission is to support millions of parents around the world to empower their children with the right money skills so that the next generation can manage their money better than previous generations.
Who we are
Doug has worked in marketing and communication for over 30 years. Working with a client base primarily in the financial industry, Doug was always alarmed by the lack of basic financial knowledge across 90% of customer segments.
Countless research papers confirmed that the lack of financial education meant people just didn’t have the basic financial skills to make wise money decisions. And often these decisions created ongoing and unnecessary financial stress throughout their lives.
After suffering a stroke in 2019, Doug was inspired to do something about this pandemic of poor financial literacy. A research paper by two behavioral scientists from Cambridge University confirmed a hunch that Doug had fostered for a while – that good money habits are developed at a very young age.
This inspired him to create StoryWI$E Kids, a series of picture books with a clear purpose of changing the financial literacy of the next generation through the power of story and simple saving activities
Between writing children’s stories and surfing the best waves in South Africa, Doug has a passion to improve the financial literacy of the next generation.
He lives in Cape Town, South Africa with his wife Sonia and their two daughters, Caitlin and Isabella.
Marina Zorina was born in a small town near St. Petersburg, Russia. She has a Masters degree in painting from the Herzen State Pedagogical University, St. Petersburg. Marina also has a Masters Degree in Pedagogy and is a qualified art teacher.
Her work is influenced by the Russian academic school of painting. Marina's desire to convey the flow of life through her work is inspired by nature and this is reflected in her paintings and illustrations.
Marina’s collaboration with Doug has allowed her to combine her academic and practical skills, including innovative digital media.
Marina lives and works as an independent illustrator in Linz, Austria with her husband Ivan and their young daughter.
STORYWISE BOOK SERIES
StoryWise helps parents build the right money habits in young children through the power of storytelling and supports these stories with simple parent/child activities at the back of each book.
