Twenty-two Cents

Muhammad Yunus and the Village Bank
By Paula Yoo, Jamel Akib
Paperback: $12.95

A biography of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who revolutionized global antipoverty efforts by developing the innovative economic concept of micro-lending.

Front cover for The Story of Banker of the People Muhammad Yunus by Paula Yoo and Jamel Akib
This book is also available in English
The Story of Banker of the People Muhammad Yunus
By Paula Yoo, Jamel Akib

Description

Growing up in Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus witnessed extreme poverty all around and was determined to eradicate it. In 1976, as an Economics professor, Muhammad met a young craftswoman in the village of Jobra who needed to borrow five taka (twenty-two cents) to buy materials. No bank would lend such a small amount to an uneducated woman, so she was forced to borrow from corrupt lenders who charged an unfair interest rate, and left her without enough profit to buy food. Muhammad realized that what stood in the way of her financial security was just a few cents.

Inspired, Muhammad founded Grameen Bank where people could borrow small amounts of money to start a job, and then pay back the bank without exorbitant interest charges. Over the next few years, Muhammad’s compassion and determination changed the lives of millions of people by loaning the equivalent of more than ten billion US dollars in micro-credit. This has also served to advocate and empower the poor, especially women, who often have limited options.

Twenty-two Cents is an inspiring story of economic innovation and a celebration of how one person-like one small loan-can make a positive difference in the lives of many.

About the Creators

Paula Yoo

Paula Yoo is an author and screenwriter whose children's books for Lee & Low include Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds, Shining Star, and several titles in the Confetti Kids series. Her titles have been recognized by the International Reading Association, the Texas Bluebonnet Award Masterlist, and Lee & Low's New Voices Award. She and her husband live in Los Angeles, California, where she works in television. You can visit her online at paulayoo.com.

Jamel Akib

Jamel Akib is an award-winning illustrator whose work has appeared in several picture books as well as in numerous museum and gallery shows in England, including several Best of British Illustration exhibitions. A full-time illustrator of English and Malaysian ancestry, Akib now lives with his family in Salisbury, England.

Awards

  • Best Children's Books of the Year

    Bank Street College of Education

  • Junior Library Guild Selection

    Junior Library Guild

  • Notable Books for a Global Society

    International Literacy Association (ILA)

  • Best Multicultural Books

    Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature

  • CCBC Choices

    Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

  • Delaware Diamonds Awards

    Diamond State Literacy Association

  • Eureka! Nonfiction Children's Book Award

    California Reading Association

  • Freeman Book Award for East and Southeast Asian Children's Literature Winner

    National Consortium for Teaching About Asia

  • South Asia Book Award

    South Asia National Outreach Consortium

Reviews

  • "A heart-gladdening testament to pulling your own suspenders tight, with a little help from your friends."

    - Kirkus Reviews
  • "[T]his eye-opening picture book provides an affecting look at how simple ideas can change the world."

    - Booklist
  • "This hopeful and inspiring tale sheds light on an important but little-known subject who made a huge difference."

    - School Library Journal
  • "In detailed and inviting prose, Yoo shares the story of activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus. . . Akib's grainy, jewel-toned chalk pastels contrast a sense of scarcity and deprivation with one of warmth and humanity. Yoo makes the significance of Yunus's contributions understandable, relevant, and immediate."

    - Publishers Weekly
  • Put this one on your "must read" list!

    - Sally's Bookshelf
  • This inspiring biography of Bengali "Banker to the Poor" Muhammad Yunnus begins with precepts he learned in his childhood. Yunnus's path to becoming an economist known for small, low-interest loans to the impoverished (micro-credit) and to receiving the Nobel Peace Prize is backdropped by striking chalk-pastel illustrations in vibrant colors.

    - The Horn Book

Paperback

  • ISBN 9781620148099
  • Publication Date Sep 01, 2014
  • Trim Size 10.75 × 8.5 in
  • Weight 0.4375 lbs
  • Page Count 40
  • Hardcover

  • ISBN 9781600606588
  • Publication Date Sep 01, 2014
  • Trim Size 10.75 × 8.5 in
  • Weight 0.4375 lbs
  • Page Count 40
  • Word Count 2263
  • Interests

  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JNF / Business & Economics
  • BISAC Category 2 JNF / Biography & Autobiography / Social Activists
  • BISAC Category 3 JNF / Biography & Autobiography / Cultural, Ethnic & Regional
  • Themes Asian / Asian American / AAPI, Biography / Memoir, Counting Money / Everyday Math, Education, Families, History & Civics, Informational / Expository Nonfiction, Integrity / Honesty, Leadership, Muslim, Nonfiction, Overcoming Obstacles, Persistence / Grit, Respect / Citizenship, Responsibility, Social & Emotional Learning, Social Justice & Activism
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 6 - 11
  • Grade Range Grades 3 - 6
  • Guided Reading V
  • ATOS Book Level 6.5
  • DRA 50
  • Interest Level Grades 3 - 6
  • Lexile Level 1010
  • Reading Level Grades 4 - 5
  • SRC 8.6
  • Bebop Reading Fluent
  • This Book is Included in These Collections:

    • 90
      High-Low Books for Preteens: Grades 4-6
      Collection of 90 books: $1,167.50