The traditional carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is illustrated with lively animal characters. The focus of each illustration is the Partridge, who reacts to the addition of the new gifts in a comical way. The illustrations give the traditional gifts personalities through expressions and actions that are not always associated with this popular Christmas carol.

The comical illustrations and friendly animals will appeal to young readers, especially those already familiar with this traditional Christmas carol. Readers can practice their numbers and count the items on each page. The classic text in the book can be used as a starting point for discussions on wants and needs, goods and services, spending and saving. Children can consider which items may be wants and which may be needs. Parents can discuss the difference between goods (calling birds) and services (maids a-milking). The questions of how much these items would cost and how one would save for them can also be addressed. Another question would be what resources would be needed in order to take care of these items if they were received as gifts. The total cost of these items has been compiled for the past 29 years by PNC Bank and is known as the PNC Christmas Price Index. The website provides an interactive global gift hunt and information regarding the market conditions and costs for each item. Using this fun, energetic rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas along with the website provides an excellent opportunity to expose children to the underlying global economic concepts in this traditional song.

http://econkids.rutgers.edu/book-of-the-month-navmenu-221/2242-the-twelve-days-o...