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Books by Age » 3-4 » Caps for Sale, a Forever Favorite Board Book

Caps for Sale, a Forever Favorite Board Book

By Lauren Bercuson ·  Published: May 17, 2016 ·  Modified: Oct 21, 2022 ·  This post may contain affiliate links

If you are looking for the best board book ever, you MUST take a look at CAPS FOR SALE, an old classic, that was on reread in our house for years. Check it out!


Best Board books and best books for two year olds, Caps for Sale!

CAPS FOR SALE is hands down one of the very best board books for toddlers!

There are some books that simply stand the test of time and, sometimes, we read them and we wonder why? What is it about THIS book that has such long lasting appeal, more than so many others? Why is this one of the best board books, one that has become such a classic?

This is how I felt about CAPS FOR SALE, by Esphyr Slobodkina, until I first read it with my own child and it became the most sought-after book in our house.

I’ll admit that when my oldest son first got this book as a gift, I wasn’t inclined to pick it up.

Let’s be honest- I totally judged the book by its cover. The illustration on the front did not excite me, it was old, and it wasn’t by any of my favorite picture book authors – or one I had ever even heard of before!

But then my kid pulled CAPS FOR SALE off the shelf one night at bedtime, when he was deciding which three books he wanted me to read to him. Together, we opened it up.

… and then I experienced first hand why CAPS FOR SALE is one of the best board books for little ones.

We read the first page, and then the next one and then the next one, until the story about a peddler selling caps in the countryside came to a close, and he immediately put it back in my hands and said “again, mama!”

So we read CAPS FOR SALE again, and this time, he laughed as I acted out the scenes from the pages — when I looked left and right and behind the tree for the missing caps, and when I shook my finger and “tsz tsz tszed” at the monkeys that stole them. When he asked me to read it yet again, he acted out the story with me. This was one of our favorite books through toddlerhood, and it remains one of our favorites today, even landing a place on our list of best books for 3-year-olds.

It’s been a good year since we read CAPS FOR SALE for the first time, and it remains the BEST board book to act out together at bedtime. Maybe that’s why it has stood the test of time- because the story is simple yet complex in the lessons it imparts, and it is simply so much fun to get silly with the text. Whatever the reason may be, one thing is for certain: this classic, originally published in 1940, is a definite keeper.

If you haven’t yet experienced the magic of CAPS FOR SALE, do yourself a favor and grab it now!

Want the book? Get it here! Caps for Sale, by Esphyr Slobodkina. *This is an affiliate link.

RELATED: Happily Ever Elephants has the best books for toddlers to instill a love of reading in your kids. Check them out!
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