I’m excited to share our experience with The Toothpaste Millionaire with you. Each month, I try to share the notes I use while leading a book club (girls and boys ages 8-10) for our local homeschool support group outside of Atlanta, GA. Over the years, the group has read dozens of books covering all sorts of characters and authors. If you’re interested in learning more, please check out How to Start a Book Club and the ongoing list of our Heritage Book Club Monthly Picks.

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This month’s book was The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill who is known best for authoring The Pushcart War. In this book, “Sixth-grader Rufus Mayflower doesn’t set out to become a millionaire. He just wants to save on toothpaste. Betting he can make a gallon of his own for the same price as one tube from the store, Rufus develops a step-by-step production plan with help from his good friend Kate MacKinstrey. By the time he reaches the eighth grade, Rufus makes more than a gallon — he makes a million! This fun, breezy story set in 1960s Cleveland, Ohio contains many real-life mathematical problems which the characters must solve to succeed in their budding business.”

I chose this book after it was recommended by Amy H. in the comments of my Chapter Books: Black Boys Having Fun post. I really do take my reader recommendations to heart, so please continue to comment! What I liked best about this book is that it features a young entrepreneur and his friends who come together to launch and grow a business from start to finish. The immediate millionaire status is a bit outlandish, but the over-the-top story is part of what makes this book so fun. I appreciated that the children weren’t unnecessarily snarky and that intelligence and wisdom is admired among the peer group.

The book is set in the 1960s, but there isn’t much to remind readers of the time period beyond a few references to the surprise of a black boy and white girl being friends along with a couple of quick mentions of racism. These are not major themes of the book at all, and quite honestly the author might as well have left them out since they are really the only things tying the book to the 60s. The inclusion of these comments didn’t detract from the book, in my opinion, but they also didn’t add anything to the story.

Discussion Questions

This 35th anniversary edition includes an exclusive author interview and reader’s guide with discussion questions, so I incorporated a few of those in with my own questions to lead our discussions.

• What did you enjoy most about this book? What would you do differently if you were the author?
• In the beginning of the book, Rufus stops to help Kate when her bag collapses. Have you ever helped or experienced help from strangers as random acts of kindness? Tell us about it.
• What is an entrepreneur? Entrepreneurs have many qualities in common. What are they, and which of those qualities did you see in Rufus?
• The Toothpaste Millionaire is a fictional story – it is not real – but there are successful young entrepreneurs like Rufus. Let’s watch this video that will introduce us to 10 young real-life entrepreneurs. [I started the video at timestamp 1:30]

• I wonder if any of you have ever thought of running your own business. If you could start a business today, what kind of business would you want to run?
• Starting a business can be difficult. What are some of the obstacles Rufus encountered in his efforts? What do you think made Rufus so successful?
• Kate said math was not her strong point, yet she was still a good business partner. Why?
• At the auction, Kate bought a bunch of empty toothpaste tubes. What is something you wish you could buy in bulk at an auction and why?
• Who is telling this story? Most of the book is written in first person, but chapter nineteen is written in third person in the format of a movie script. Why do you think the author chose to tell this part of the story in script form?
• Have you ever made something we normally buy at the store from scratch? What is it and how did it turn out?
• Let’s watch this video of someone showing us one of the many ways toothpaste can be made:

• At the end of the book, Rufus sells his business to have more time to think about what he would like to do next. What do you think of his decision? Is it realistic? Would you do the same?
• In Rufus’ postcard he asks for materials for what seems like a new idea. What could he be thinking of?

This meeting was plagued with Zoom audio issues which is really disappointing so I feel like we didn’t get to experience the fullness of the entire discussion, but it was still a fruitful meeting. It also reminded me of how nice it was when we used to meet in person.

The Toothpaste Millionaire Follow-up Gifts

As I do every month, I mailed all of the children two small gifts: a book charm to add to the silver chains they received the first month and a new form of toothpaste (powder) they’ve probably never tried in honor of Rufus’ efforts to revolutionize the market. I find that receiving something tangible in the mail each month really helps the children to feel engaged with the online book club process. It also ensures that nobody ever wants to miss book club!

If you enjoyed these book club lesson plans, you may enjoy reading about some of our previous meetings:

• Clubhouse Mysteries: The Buried Bones Mystery by Sharon M. Draper
• Ways to Make Sunshine by Renee Watson
• Ansley’s Big Bake Off by Kaityln, Olivia, and Camryn Pitts
• The Last Last-Day-of-Summer by Lamar Giles
• Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World by Mildred Pitts Walter

You can find me on Instagram at @heritagemomblog. See you there!