Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business (Paperback)

by Esphyr Slobodkina (Author, Illustrator) "Once there was a peddler who sold caps..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Subtitled A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business, this absurd and very simple story has become a classic, selling hundreds of thousands of copies since its first publication in 1940. A peddler walks around selling caps from a tall, tottering pile on his head. Unable to sell a single cap one morning, he walks out into the countryside, sits down under a tree, checks that all the caps are in place, and falls asleep. When he wakes up, the caps are gone--and the tree is full of cap-wearing monkeys. His attempts to get the caps back generate the kind of repetitive rhythm that 3- and 4-year-olds will adore. (Preschool and older) --Richard Farr --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
"From an old folk tale [the author] has fashioned this bright picture book, infusing it with a humor which seems to have sprung from her own hearty enjoyment of the troubles of a peddler with a abnd of monkeys."" --The New York Times

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (September 4, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064431436
• ISBN-13: 978-0064431439
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (77 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,676 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #1 in	Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Multicultural Stories > Hispanic & Latino
  #3 in	Books > Children's Books > Animals > Apes & Monkeys > Fiction
  #20 in	Books > Teens > Literature & Fiction > Classics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true keeper, September 8, 2001

By	Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This adorable story is simple enough to read to infants under the age of one. By the time they are two, children can easily memorize it and begin to distinguish words on the page.

It is particularly delightful for young children, who can identify both with the peddler's nap and his anger at the monkeys in a tree, who have stolen his caps.

Altogether, the story is pure joy. Your copy is sure to wear out before your children reach the age of five, as ours did. Alyssa A. Lappen

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tsz tsz tsz., January 10, 2004

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A folktale fastforwarded to 1940. In this fine lighthearted little yarn, author Esphyr Slobodkina reinvigorates the folk tradition with a marvelous story. In it, a peddler looses his hats to a tree of 16 chattering monkeys and must find a way to get them back. There is no overwhelming complexity in the text of this tale, but sixty-some years after its original publication there is still great charm in its words. Accompanying the staid story is a series of brightly colored illustrations. The peddler seen here is not your classic workaday schmoe in dirty clothes and a five-o-clock shadow. He is prim and pristine. With a moustache like Hercule Poirot's, a smart black suit, and a pair of cheerful red spats he is a picture of competence and sterility. Which makes his eventual foot-stomping, fist-shaking temper tantrum at the mischievous monkeys all the more amusing. I was particularly taken with the monkeys response to the peddler's demands. All they say is, "Tsz, tsz, tsz". Who knew we shared this phrase with our simian kin? Slobodkina has created a precise little tale. Though she never says it, sixteen caps sit atop the peddler's head (his preferred method of peddling his wares, doncha know) and sixteen monkey pinch them. The combination of bright colors, funny monkeys, and the dapper little peddler man make this a real treasure of 1940s children's literature.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You need this one if you teach K or 1st Grade!, June 8, 2001

By A Customer

Caps For Sale is a wonderful tale that students love to read. It is an ideal book for shared reading and offers opportunities for students to learn about the structure of a good story. Slobodkina's story of a peddler trying to sell his wares in a small town has a clear beginning, middle, and end. You need this one if you would like children to learn how to make predictions, recognize patterns, sequence events, and notice setting elements. This book is a "must have" classic in any K and 1st grade classroom.