Once upon a Company

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A pastiche of elaborately bordered colored-pencil and watercolor illustrations packed with cozy details give Halperin's (illustrator of Homeplace) account of the business her children started (to save money for college) an old-world folktale touch. The approach in artwork is an unusual and particularly pleasing choice for a nonfiction picture book, one that, paired with a conversational text, helps make an intimidating subject both approachable and fun. For seven-year-old Joel and his sisters Kale and Lane, the College Fund Wreath Company was a success right out of the starting gate and quickly spawned another seasonal venture, the P.B. and J. Company--a summertime snack bar that sells lemonade and sandwiches. Told in Joel's first-person narration, the story chronicles the first six years of their business, from start-up to a thriving enterprise that employs other children and with profits to date totaling $16,000--now invested in zero coupon bonds. This warm and lively introduction to the world of business includes a glossary with additional information on words and concepts introduced in the text (complete with formulas and helpful hints). Informative and encouraging, this down-to-earth success story could inspire a whole generation of young entrepreneurs. Ages 5-9. (Sept.)

Children's Literature - Jan Lieberman

If you don't think it's possible for a seven-year-old boy and his sisters to begin a business that earns money, you must read this book with your children. In picture-book format, the story of how Halperin's children began their wreath making business and how it grew over a period of six years to include other businesses which required the children to become marketers, wholesalers, secretaries, employers and investors, is truly inspirational. It is a family effort, but what a grand endeavor. The illustrations show the process and the fun. It may be worth more than the price of the book if it encourages children to think in terms of their future.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-6-Information, inspiration, and imagination burst from this highly creative guide that chronicles one Michigan family's entrepreneurial adventure. At a loss for "something to do," Joel, Kale, and Lane take their mother's suggestion to make and sell Christmas wreaths. It could, she tells them, be the start for earning money for college. With the help of grandparents, classmates, friends, and local townspeople, the College Fund Wreath Company is born and becomes a success, even branching off into the Peanut Butter & Jelly Company during the summer seasons. Landmark events, bits of humor, and a cadre of customers and helpers flow through this real-life story, narrated by Joel, who smoothly integrates various business terms and concepts into the telling. Meanwhile, small, intricately detailed illustrations spice the pages with the people, places, and happenings of this ongoing six-year venture-all tied innovatively together with decorative embellishments that provide an inviting atmosphere. A "bottom-line" winner.-Barbara Elleman, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI

Kirkus Reviews

Halperin (When Chicken Grow Teeth, 1996, etc.) offers an ode to young entrepreneurs who happen to be her children, and the involvement of relatives, neighbors, and friends. Joel, Lane, and Kale collectively narrate how the November doldrums in rural coniferous Michigan led to their starting a business with the clippings from a neighbor's Christmas tree farm. The business became the College Fund Wreath Company, intended to earn money for the children's educations. It starts out as a modest affair, with a sideline during the summer months in a lemonade stand, but grows and grows until it is a full-fledged enterprise renting out space downtown, filling wholesale orders, taking on employees. The folksy tone and endearing details hold interest, and the can- do attitude is borne out by the resultsþ$16,000 taken in as the book closes on a helpful glossary. The illustrationsþdelicate, vivacious clusters of pencil-and-watercolor images of people workingþgenerate a light of their own, turning each righthand page into a multi-framed visual telling that enhances the anecdotes and intrigue of the text on the left. (Picture book. 5-9)