Years ago, a unique peddler stood out from other salespeople because he carried all his goods on top of his head. He neatly stacked a bunch of gray, brown, blue, and red caps in a single pile and carefully balanced them on his head as he walked through town, calling "Caps! Caps for Sale! Fifty cents a cap!" But alas, on this particular day, no one purchases a cap. With no money to buy lunch, the peddler opts for a walk and a nap in the countryside instead. His troubles multiply when he wakes up to the sight of a group of playful monkeys in the treetop, each wearing one of his caps for sale. How will he get the caps back?

This classic story, reissued in a new hardcover edition, does not grow old with its humor, ingenuity, and charm. Underlying the story is an important set of economics concepts related to buyers and sellers in the goods market. If the demand for caps had been a little stronger, the peddler may have been able to avoid this whole predicament, but therein lies the book's merriment. Caps for Sale gets top marks for delivering a story with substantive content that children will enjoy and remember.

This is one of the few books I remember my elementary school librarian reading to us during my childhood. I loved the story of the multi colored caps balancing on the peddler's head as he walked through town yelling "caps for sale!" Then to find that as he napped, his caps disappeared. Looking around for them post-nap, he discovers a band of monkeys in the tree wearing them. He tries to get the caps back but each time he yells at the monkeys, they just ape his actions. Finally they throw the caps down and he continues on his way selling his multi-colored caps. I highly recommend this book for all children. My daughter is 2, almost 3, and she also LOVES this story. She finds the monkeys funny - especially how I imitate their actions.

This makes the top ten list out of all the great picture books we read to our kids when they were young. I never tired of reading it. So simple, symmetric, even musical. The story? How does the peddler get the monkeys to give back all the caps they've stolen from him and carried up into the tree? Okay, I'm the publisher of One Monkey Books, so call me biased. But try this one on your three or five or year old, and really get into singing, "Caps for sale! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!" It's been around for ages already, and this book will still be there when your kids are having kids. Nutty to Meet You! Dr. Peanut Book #1

I remembering absolutley loving this book as a kid, even though for the life of me I cannot quite remember why. But as far as pointless folktales go, this one really hits the spot. And how can I ignore those amazing illustrations and those silly monkeys? Not much in the way of plot, but somehow the book manages to be incredibly entertaining for some reason unknownst to me. Oh well. Maybe that is its charm.

Another classic to add to the list of beloved library books we had renewed so often we decided to buy it. It is a timeless classic. My 3 year old son loves it. Also see the sequel- circus caps for sale.

I remember a teacher reading this book to the class (a long time ago!) and now I read it to my 27 month old granddaughter. She loves the story and likes to immitate the monkeys. It's one of her favorite books. Our book is a soft cover, which I didn't realize at the time of purchase. With all its use, I wish I would have purchased a hard cover or even as a board book if it's offered that way.

Caps for Sale is a wonderful classic that young readers love to hear. There is enough repetition to encourage children to "read" along. This can also be "acted out" to engage different learning modalities.

Captain Kangaroo read me this book some 40 years back. I remember laughing then. My kids, all teens now, liked the book which is not meant to be read so much as performed. Reading becomes action as one verbally plays the parts of the pedlar and the monkeys. My theory, at least, is that children will enjoy reading when it has more vitality than a pre-bedtime drone and learn that books are not dead repositories of information, but interact with our imaginations and become alive. Little books like this, a few moments of funny story, make a good impression on young minds------and are fun to read in their own right. This is cute and clever.

This vintage book is fabulous to act out as you are reading it. Kids love to mimic the monkeys and feel the frustration of the "peddler"(a new word for the current generation to learn!)In our family the third generation to read this book loves it as much as the first two generations did.

I found this book in a toy store about 7 years ago. I was so surprised to see it because it had been about 25 years since I had seen it. I remember the cover of this book and the story itself so vividly from when I was in Kindergarten. This is a great and simple story. My youngest child makes me read this to her everyday. I can hear her in her room when she wakes up from a nap and she is repeating the whole story to herself. It is great to listen to the Tsz! Tsz! Tsz! coming from her room. This is a wonderful story for kids that love to copy!

This is a children's classic!!
I have read/told it to all the children I love, as well as retold it to adults at our Toastmasters group.
This makes a great gift for a baby shower too! (I've given it several times, since it's a favorite of mine and my own children -- now grown!)

I remember my teacher reading this book to the class in Elementary school. It was fine for passing the time at school but looking back I remember not being attracted to the illustrations or the story. It basically did nothing for me as a child. As an adult I looked at it the other day and still could not understand the appeal for this book. Of course, that is just my opinion and it seems a lot of people seem to be attracted to it.

This was a great gift for a baby. As he grows older, he will enjoy the art, rhyme, and a different culture. Ferdinand will never go out of style, nor be grown out of in age. It has a wonderful message for today's society.

I ordered this book for a new first-grade teacher because she was lacking reading material in her classroom. It has been a favorite story of mine for probably 20 years. I used it in the classroom to have the kids dramatize it as a comprehension check. They loved acting it out. We used paper plates for the caps. The "monkeys" sat on a table when they were "treed." I would recommend it for children's libraries.

Bought this item about 5 years ago... the book 'wore' out so recently ordered another replacement. The grandchildren LOVE it's melodic story. Amazondotcom comes through w/ great deals once again.

I hate to admit it, but I can remember this story being read to me by my mother shortly after it was first published. I loved it as a child and love it now. The story, at first glance is simple, well told and an absolute delight. The illustrations are "old world," and the type I grew up on. Even though the story has been around for years and years, it is certainly no worse for the wear. What delighted me as a child seems to delight the kids of today. I read this one to my various classes and the kids all seem to love it. Actually, there is not much to not like about this one. Recommend it highly.

I recently started reading this book to my two year old, and she loves it as much as I did when I was young. It's fun to incorporate lessons on counting and colors as we read this silly tale of monkey see, monkey do.

Not everyone is "ready" for the really, really Big Book version of this story. I'm evidentally not completely ready, as I dropped it on my foot several times reading today on a whim, right off my super Big book cart. (I had about 20 minutes to while away until the kids went home, so it was story time.) I'm a first grade teacher and this I counted today as "Math reasoning."

Let's see....the history aspect. Caps For Sale predates most of those handsome fellows I see wearing these caps out in the world...it has a Wiki...saying, "A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business is a 1938 classic children's book by Esphyr Slobodkina. It's a sly take on the saying, "Monkey see, monkey do."
Based on a folktale, the story follows the life of a mustachioed cap salesman who wears his entire stock of caps on his head -- seventeen in all, as depicted on the title page (including his own cap). He strolls through towns and villages chanting, "Caps! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!"

It's an exciting plot line, as I'm sure the traveling cap business is filled with the wonder of new customers and far away places.He even manages to be a bit hungry from a poor sales day just to let us in on the reality of village to village promotion. Myself, I favor the colors used in the book( turquoise, orange, red, mustard gold, brown) which I can only say are as period as the entire thing...folk tradition for sure. Oh, and I like the checkered caps. My class preferred red. Like all good stories there are inevitable complications, poor sales, a rest under a tree (hey we have a tree story in our theme so good tie in) and then of course the town monkeys kind of give some nice monkey business with their cap-naping ways. And I about fell asleep mid-story for dramatic and sleep-waking effect.

I read the story as a child,sure-think Scholastic book club, heck my Mom probably read the story as a twelve year old or whatever she was to her baby brother. It's been around awhile. My current class loves mocking and teasing so of course they thought the story was great. But my money was entirely with the peddlar. I asked my class what else he could do to get his caps back from the monkeys in the tree before the page where he does get things back in shape and one child I will call Andrew yelled out, "He can take out his gun and shoot them all dead."

It's that kind of a year.

So after another 15 minutes in which I then tried to figure that out and make "my kids and guns and school talk" speech off they went happily into their hood. Ah....you wonder what Slobodkina might make of a book that has sold more than 2 million copies. Pretty amazing that caps can generate that kind of cool.

Caps for Sale is a delightful tale that is simple but with the right amount of absurdity that kids love. The repetition of words and the copycat element (when the monkeys imitate the peddler's actions)is entertaining for very young children.

In searching reviews to find great books, I struggled to remember if I liked this one as a kid! I remembered the cover, but not the story! When it came, I was delighted to find that I loved the story, and my son has a NEW favorite book! He grins ear to ear as soon as the peddler wakes up from his nap and discovers only one hat left on his head. My 20 month old doesn't sit still from that point on in the story. He crouches so as to make monkey gestures and sounds. He wags his finger and says "tsk tsk tsk" just like the monkeys! He stomps his feet and waves his arms just like the monkeys! The monkeys are so mischievous, and I think my son relates! LOL! All in all, the little copycat monkeys throw their hats down to the peddler when he gets angry enough at their taunting to throw his hat down on the ground! It is very cute. There isn't variety in the illustrations as the same vintage colors are used on every page, but the story is so strong that I have to give this one 5 stars! Enjoy! I still do!

"Caps for Sale" by Esphyr Slobodkina is a marvelous children's book. An ingenious plot that I remember from my childhood. Now I am enjoying it again with my children. I was always fascinated by how he balanced those hats. The illustrations are quite simple but intriguing. Just looking at Pezzo with all those hats piled one on top of another is more interesting than many of the high tech special effects I have seen in today's movies. Sometimes the simple way is the best.

Pezzo's situation looks bleak as the monkeys that stole his caps are scattered high in the tree. His act of frustration actually serves to get his stolen caps back from the playful monkeys. It shows a child that no matter how impossible a situation is, if you think you can find a solution.

It is an ideal book for shared reading and offers opportunities for the young ones to learn about the structure of a good story that clearly has a beginning, middle, and end. You need this one if you would like your child(s) to learn how to make predictions, recognize patterns, sequence events, and notice setting elements.

It has already been around for over sixty years, and another sixty should be an easy reach for this delightful book. If you can find it, I also recommend Pezzo the Peddler. In that one he goes to a circus carnival and his hats fall off and the circus performers mistakenly take them. This book has a lot more text but also a more intricate plot.

This book is pure joy. I loved it when I was young. I picked it out for my daughter because it brought back the fondest memories of my own childhood. By the time they are two, children can easily memorize it and begin to distinguish words on the page. It's now become my daughter's favorite book to read. We both know it by heart. This is a must-have in any children's book collection. I highly recommend it. Another great book for older kids (over 9) is "Why some cats are rascals". Get them both!

This is a classic book and is a fun book to read with your little ones.

This book is amazing! When I was a child my mother would read it over and over and over AND over to me. It's a classic!

I remember reading this book when I was a child, and both of my children are enchanted when I read it to them. A must read a bedtime or anytime!

This is a book I loved as a child. It was originally written and illustrated by Esphyr Slobodkina before WWII and obviously takes place in a European village. It tells the story of a peddler who sells caps, so instead of carrying his wares on his back, he wears them on his head, hats pilled as tall as he is. Our peddler has to walk very straight (we tell Devon to walk straight like the hat man all the time) so he won't spill his hats.

One morning the peddler couldn't sell any caps, so he went for a walk in the country and fell asleep under a tree, caps piled high on his head. When he woke all the caps were gone but one. The poor peddler had fallen asleep under a tree full of monkeys and each one was high in the tree, wearing one of the peddler's new hats. The peddler gets angry and shakes his finger at the monkeys, they shake their fingers back. He shakes both his hands at them, they shake their hands back. He stamps his feet, they stamp theirs. And you guessed it, he throws his hat on the ground and they throw their hats on the ground too and the peddler gets his hats back.

This story is timeless. Devon likes it and I'm sure years from now, his children will like it as well. Reading books like this is much better for toddlers than television. Sara and I think so anyway and we hope you do to.

Jack Priest, Dad in Training

A very simple case study of an entrepreneur who hoped to make the Fortune 500 by vending colored headgear.

Although carefully balancing his inventory, he was still caught napping by unscrupulous bandits, and had to resort to trickery to get his investment returned.

This elementary lesson teaches the young student several things:

1. You can't sell caps at 50 cents without drawing attention to yourself.

2. Don't ever fall asleep on the job.

3. Don't monkey around in your business dealings.

4. Losing your temper can be a good thing, once it gets the desired results.

5. Returned goods can still be sold for full price if properly displayed.

A useful learning tool for the budding CEO in your family.

Amanda Richards, December 4, 2004

Edited to expand: Children can have additional fun with this book counting the hats and identifying the colors. They can also count the monkeys, and have fun acting the role of the peddlar trying to get back the caps. My son liked to pretend he was a monkey!