In a sense, Islander James McKenna has always had a knack for finances.

A co-creator of children’s TV shows “Bill Nye the Science Guy” and “Biz Kid$,” the latter a show where kids teach kids about money, McKenna was once lovingly referred to as “Alex Keaton” when he was a floor director at KING-TV. Even as a young man, he had a penchant for reading the Wall Street Journal.

Now with his new children’s book “How to turn $100 into $1,000,000,” the producer-turned-author hopes to pass on to youngsters helpful financial tips that may one day make them millionaires.

The book, a joint effort from McKenna, fellow “Biz Kid$” creator Jeannine Glista and writer Matt Fontaine, is McKenna’s first foray into writing. The colorful, 110-page book is geared toward middle-schoolers and releases April 5 from Workman Publishing, coinciding with Financial Literacy Month. Inside, young readers will find simple saving exercises and sidebars with informative financial tidbits.

McKenna told the Reporter the goal was to get kids to imagine the possibilities of having $1 million.

“It’s not about greed, but we don’t want people to retire poor. People are going to have to be more reliant on themselves for that nest egg,” he said. “That’s the whole focus. It’s an ambitious goal, but we think it’s a doable goal if kids really apply themselves. They have a better chance of doing this than winning the lottery or being a basketball star. That’s the bottom line of the book, we want these kids to be financially independent.”

The foundation for young savers turning $100 into $1 million, according to McKenna’s book, is opening a savings account. By his estimate, a 10-year-old kid today might be able to achieve such a goal in 20 to 30 years. The authors contend it’s not magic, it’s just math.

“The key is to start early and to save often,” Glista said. “It’s not some secret, just getting into the saving mindset early and saving young and knowing how much you have to save.”

“A lot of kids have been told to hide money and start saving and a lot of kids do this, but they don’t have a bank account,” McKenna said. “So they get frustrated and give up. Why bother if they can’t see an end result.”

McKenna attributed his interest in financial literacy at an early age to his father subscribing to the Wall Street Journal. He said for young financial minds to have a firm grasp on how to save, parents need to teach financial literacy to their kids, noting that such a subject is not mandated in many state schools.

He acknowledged that talking money with kids isn’t always easy, but also posed that some youth don’t know the difference between a debit card and a credit card, and that many go into young adulthood without knowing how the financial world really works. If kids saw how finances applied in real life, it might make a bigger difference.

“Everyone knows how to spend money, but nobody is taught how to save it,” he said. “You don’t get many lessons on how to save money.”

The “Biz Kid$” core production team, which includes McKenna and his wife Erren Gottlieb, Glista and Jamie Hammond, has produced five seasons of “Biz Kid$” since 2008. The show, distributed through American Public Television, uses comedy to teach kids about money and business. “Biz Kid$” recently received funding for six more episodes for its sixth season, which will air this fall.

Before “Biz Kid$,” McKenna and Gottlieb, who both live on Mercer Island, both co-created and worked as executive producers for “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” which originally aired from 1993 to 1998. McKenna called that time “one of the best experiences of my life.”

“I got to do some of the craziest stuff anybody would want to ever do during that show,” he said.

McKenna was recently interviewed for a documentary about Bill Nye and the influence of his show. He said the film is set to premiere at Sundance in 2017.

“How to turn $100 into $1,000,000” is available for pre-order through Amazon.com. www.amazon.com/How-Turn-100-into-000/dp/076118080X.