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Jun 06, 2009

Kim rated it:

I've had this touch of nostalgia lately...so, tonight I came across this book and I thought 'What the hell, why not review it and subject the GR community to my musings'--Keep in mind that it's 4:13am and I've had a shitty night.

That said, Caps for Sale was a favorite of mine when I was young. I'd hunt down all the hats in our house and try to recreate the peddler's walk during one of my mom's work parties. This was the 70s and my mom's friends were of a uh... different sort. More...

13 comments like (24 people liked it)

Oct 13, 2007

The Library Lady rated it:

No fancy computer generated illustrations--just a bright, limited palette. No characters with their own TV show. No farting dogs, no cool pullouts or lift the flaps. Just a simple little story about "a peddler, some monkeys and their monkey business"
But for 60 years kids have read and loved this story. I have never had a group of kids who didn't have fun shaking their fingers and stomping their feet along with the monkeys.
This is what a true "classic" is all about

0 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jun 28, 2011

Mary Lou rated it:

A classic tale that is a perfect story time read. Esphyr Slobodkina tells of a peddler who carries his wares on his head - selling caps of all colors for 50 cents a cap. On a day when no one in town is buying, the peddler takes a long nap under a tree. He awakens to find no caps on his head; instead, the monkeys in the tree are all wearing his caps. When he yells at them, a humorous exchange occurs as the monkeys mimic the peddler’s angry rant. When he finally throws down his own cap in frus More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 24, 2008

Becky rated it:

I'd heard of this book for years and years but never read it until I snagged a free copy from our local library's used book bin.

I now understand why I heard about this book for years and years. It became one of my daughter's favorite books after just one read-through. This folk-tale-like story is engaging but simple, as are the illustrations.

A peddler walks slowly through the village with his wares -- many different-colored caps -- stacked high on his head. He's having a More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Sep 30, 2011

Amy rated it:

Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather after I read this one to the kids! I checked out Caps for Sale from the library because two of my friends rated this book highly, but I didn't read the book before I checked it out. I stuck it in my bag, along with Once Upon a Royal Superbaby, and on the bus ride home I read the book. "Oh, no," I thought, "the kids are going to think this is lame! There's no way this is going to be able to compete with that superbaby book!" More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 14, 2011

Katelynn added it

This book is about a man who sells hats for a living.Rather than carrying the caps on his back he wears every single one. He has gray caps, brown caps blue caps and red caps. One day he was trying to sell his caps but no one wanted to buy any. So he decided to go for a walk in the country. When he came upon a large tree he decided to stop for awhile and take a nap. Before he went to sleep he made sure all of his caps were sit neatly on his head. After sleeping for quite some time, he woke up to More...

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Apr 17, 2011

Tanika rated it:

This story is about a gentleman hat peddler. He stacks hats of all colors on top of his head and walks slowly so he don’t disrupts them and shouts caps for sale $.50 cent! One day he can’t sell any caps so he decides to take a nap under a tree. When he wakes all of his caps are gone, he panics and look everywhere and can’t find them until he looks up. He sees monkeys in the tree he slept under and each one had on one of his hats. Confused on what to do the peddler decides to command the monkeys More...

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Feb 02, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

This is one of my favorite predictable children's picture books of all time! Esphyr Slobodkina basis her story on an old folktale. A peddler who sells hats decides to take a nap after a slow day of not selling any caps. While the peddler naps, some mischievous little monkeys steal the peddlers caps. Upon awakening, the peddler demands the monkeys return his caps. The monkeys imitate the peddler as he shakes his fist and stomps his foot, but it isn't until the peddler throws down his cap tha More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 18, 2011

Liz rated it:

A salesman (or "peddler") strolls through the streets of a small town shouting the refrain "Caps! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!"

Weary from his work, he decides to rest under a tree. When he wakes up all of his hats are gone. With a turn of the page we discover what has happened to them and the rest of the story describes how he, almost by mistake, gets them back and returns to his work.

This is a great read-aloud children's book with lots of repeating c More...

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Dec 29, 2010

Jamie rated it:

In this classic story, a man makes his living by selling hats. He walks around the town with a big pile of hats on his head. One day, he cannot manage to sell a single hat, so he walks off and takes a nap under a tree. When he wakes up, he finds that he only has one hat on his head. The monkeys in the tree above him stole all of his hats! Finally, the man gets his hats back and continues through the town selling hats.
The illustrations for this book are very simple, yet very enjoyable. More...

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Aug 28, 2010

Lana rated it:

Classic! I read this book aloud in my Kindergarten placement, for an assignment involving a prop. So, I stitched 19 hats from red, blue, brown and grey felt. I dressed myself in the peddler's attire, complete with a handle-bar mustache from party city. The children were so excited to see me all dressed up- and hear me speak in a manly voice-- they almost didn't recognize me. They acted out the monkey's role, and each student shook their hat and waved their fingers calling "Tsz, Tsz, Ts More...

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Feb 27, 2011

Jose rated it:

For a book that is generations old, I enjoyed reading this. I can see children between first to third grade that would enjoy this book, because of the characters involved in the story. The main character of the story tries to his caps, but a bunch of monkeys took the caps from him. One can see that the illustrations in this story are not of current times, but of the seventies. Many of the colors used are plain colors and not much of any bright colorful colors as you might seen in today's book. N More...

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Dec 17, 2009

Jill rated it:

I may hate monkey commercials, monkey skits on SNL, monkey movies, monkeys at the zoo, monkeys dressed in children's clothing, monkey bars, the monkey (ok gorilla) from Congo, the Black Eyed Peas' Monkeybusiness cd, phrases that contain the word "monkey," but I do love this book and those hilarious literary monkeys. Oh, and I also like Monkey Bread and think I'll ask my mommy to make me some.

10 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 19, 2011

Shannon rated it:

This is an old classic, and while the illustrations look vaguely familiar to me I couldn't say for sure whether I read this as a kid. As the subtitle says, it's the story of a cap peddler, some monkeys and their monkey business. The peddler wears all the caps on his own head, organised by colour; when he takes a nap under a tree one day he wakes up to find them all gone. After futilely looking around, he looks up at the tree and finds it full of monkeys, each one wearing one of his caps. He then More...

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Oct 19, 2009

Michelle rated it:

Summary:
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 t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 25, 2011

Laura rated it:

“Caps! Caps for Sale! Fifty cents a cap!” A cap peddler strolls through town, wearing all his wares—sixteen caps for sale, plus his own cap-- on his head. One morning, the peddler cannot sell any caps. He walks out of the village and sits down to rest under a tree. Before he falls asleep, he checks to see if all his caps are in place—they are. When he wakes up, only his own cap is on his head. He looks up and sees a tree full of monkeys with his caps! He shakes his fist at the monkeys, and asks More...

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Jun 22, 2010

Melissa rated it:

Slobodkina, Esphyr. Caps for Sale. New York: HarperTrophy, 1987. Print.
Genre: Children’s Picture Book
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina is about a peddler that is selling a variety of hats and come in contact with monkeys that take his caps. These monkeys scare the peddler and make him mad because he wants to make money from selling these caps. Eventually the peddler gets his caps back. This book is such a cute book that gives detailed illustrations that help the reader see what is h More...

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Aug 12, 2009

Karla rated it:

In the dim recesses of 1970s education in Southern California, they were all about ITA - International Teaching Alphabet. It was all about funny-looking conjoined letters and spelling things like they sounded that was supposed to help kids learn to read easier and quicker -- *radical*! My kindergarten adopted this program whole-heartedly, and I actually owned this book printed in ITA. My sister recently found it online (along with some other well-loved childhood books) and gave it to me for Chri More...

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Apr 02, 2009

Tara rated it:

This book is always mentioned when I discuss books I read in my childhood. Not because it was great, or that I loved it, but because it was set as a recommended book to read when I was 9.
At this age I was reading novels, and the teacher accused me of lying and publicly berated me.
Enter Mother. Parent teacher interviews, meetings with the principal etc.
Result?
I got a nice sticker to congratulate me for reading 100 books. I did not get an apology.
Possibly as a direct res More...

1 comment like

Aug 31, 2011

Austin rated it:

A world classic from Russia, dating in my own reading life to that early period where a picture book could possess an archetypal beauty at the same time as it did hypnotic particularities, idiosyncrasies of texture, color, line, perspective, visual idea. I remember the art more than the words, and on rereading this story as an adult, I find enormous interest in the subtext too. Where is everyone? The peddler can't sell his caps, it seems, because he's wandering through a town devoid of people More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 23, 2012

Riley rated it:

This story always made me laugh. The short tale of a peddler and his caps. No ordinary peddler. He kept his caps all on the top of his head. He was tired and decided lay under a tree and nap. When he awoke, all his caps were missing. He looked up into the tree and say that each of the monkeys had on one of his k\caps. He tried everything to get them back. On ce he gave up and threw his own to the ground. One by one each of the monkeys threw theirs to the ground as well. The Peddler picked up his More...

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Sep 18, 2011

Haley rated it:

This book brings back memories from my childhood. I love this book! This is a very clever book about a peddler who walks around town trying to sale caps but is soon angered by some monkeys who takes his caps while he is sleeping. I love the ending about how the monkeys end up giving the peddler caps back. I like all the colors and the different caps that the peddler has on stacked neatly on his head. This is a great book to practice math skills for young children.I would use this story to teach More...

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Jun 27, 2011

Joan rated it:

In this book a peddler and some monkeys share some time together and after the monkeys played a trick on the peddler by taking his hats as he slept,they teased him, held on to his hats and mimicked his actions when he demanded his hats back. One of these actions is what made the monkeys return the hats to the peddler. Each time that I read this book to my preschoolers they became totally engaged in the story right to the very end; they even join in telling the story mimicking the noises that the More...

1 comment like

Dec 09, 2010

Carol rated it:

This picture book is a delightful folktale from Mali where a hat salesman wanders into the country to sell his hats when business slows down in the city. He falls asleep with a tall pile of caps on his head and wakes to find them gone. Monkeys have taken all of the caps except the one on the peddler's head. In his frustration to get the hats back, the peddler throws down his own cap and is thrilled to find that the monkeys do the same. This is a great story for emerging readers as it has simpl More...

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Jun 01, 2011

Jackie rated it:

Provides a great way to build vocabulary and explain to students what a peddler is since he is the main character. More importantly, students can listen to an entertaining story without even thinking about math. When the story is done this book can be used to create all 11 types of addition and subtraction problems! I would start with posing problems to students such as; “The peddler had 20 hats the monkeys stole 3, how many hats does the peddler have left?” As an extension, invite students t More...

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Jan 29, 2011

Kerri rated it:

A wonderful book about a peddler selling all different colored caps, and then getting tricked by some mischievous monkeys! The book provides a solid storyline for students to be able to retell the story with a beginning, middle, and end. The peddler shouts throughout the pages, “Caps! Caps for sale. Fifty cents a cap.” The repetitive line allows for students to join in during the reading, and the caps provide many opportunities from counting (caps or money) to learning colors. A great book More...

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Apr 09, 2011

Laura rated it:

Caps for Sale was one of my favorite books in elementary school and I still LOVE reading. I shared this book with my first grade class and they absolutely loved it! Children love this book because the monkeys who are up to no good are humorous and it's great for teaching predictions. Young students will be able to make predictions about the monkeys taking the salesman caps based off of their previous actions. This is a great piece of children's literature and I would recommend that all prima More...

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Feb 08, 2011

Whitney rated it:

"CAPS FOR SALE, COME GET YOUR CAPS" Recently one of my college professors read this book to our cohort. I was definitely entertained and really enjoyed the story. The characters are simply funny; but not on purpose. The cap peddler keeps you giggling when he falls asleep against a tree inhabited with silly monkeys. This is a great point in the story where predictions can be made to get the listeners really engaged. Not only is it a great book to just read aloud; it can also be used for More...

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Sep 19, 2011

Hannah rated it:

I also really loved this book. The illustrations are very good throughout the whole book. It talks about a man that sells different caps, exactly what the title says. I think they are activities that could go along with this book in the classroom. The teacher could create an art project out of this, by everyone cutting out a cap from a piece of construction paper and create their our own cap to go along with the story. It is a comical book and I would recommend this as book to read with kinderga More...

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Jan 10, 2012

Alissa rated it:

Everytime my son wants to read this book,he hands it to me and says "the monkeys say tsz, tsz, tsz" and giggles. Clearly this is a favorite. A peddler isn't selling many hats so he takes a walk in the country. When he wakes up he finds that his hats are all in the tree being worn by the monkeys. There was quite a bit of giggling as we all acted out shaking our fists and stomping our feet. I love a book with predictable text so my kids can guess what is coming up, and 'read' the story t More...

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