Gr. 2-4. This small, square book in the new Money and Banks series does a very good job of demystifying what goes on at the local bank. On each page, a utilitarian color photo, obviously posed but reflective of the topic, shares space with a single paragraph of text, which defines an important term or explains an activity associated with a bank or banking. Kids will find out how to open an account, withdraw money (with a photo of an ATM) and learn about several other bank services--among them, lending money and renting safe-deposit boxes. The explanations are concise and clear, and important terms, in boldface, are well defined and reiterated in a glossary. Photo captions, which might have expanded the text, are little more than space fillers.
