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

This is a great book for kids, even young ones around 2.5 years old. It's an engaging story and my son loves the part where the man wakes up to find his hats gone, and looks up and sees all the monkeys wearing the hats! He asks me to read it everynight, and remembers the phrase "caps for sale."

I loved this book as a child and I love sharing it with my children.

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