FeedTimeless Thursday: Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
January 21, 2010 in Art activities, Elementary Educators, Picture Book, Preschool to 1st grade teachers, Reading Skills, Sequence Practice, Slobodkina Esphyr, Timeless Thursdays, Writing Skills Tags: Caps for Sale, Esphyr Slobodkina, picture books, picture books with repeating text, struggling readers, Timeless Thursday
When I taught remedial reading to second graders in Boonville, Missouri, I loved the week we spent reading this book. Some of the kids had heard it read to them before by kindergarten or first grade teachers or librarians, but many of them were experiencing it for the first time. They LOVED when the monkeys stole the caps from the peddler and how cheap the caps were! After all, this was published in 1938–prices have risen since then.
One of the best things about this book is how easy it is to read once children do a book walk and a read through because the pictures can help with the more difficult words AND there’s plenty of repeatable text. Struggling and beginning readers need fun books like Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina to gain confidence and find enjoyment in reading. After all, reading attitude is at least half the battle.
We used to do a lot of activities in my remedial reading class with Caps for Sale. I would have students sequence the events using pre-made sentence strips that I photocopied and they cut out. Another fun activity was for students to act out the peddler’s and monkeys’ story while one or two other students read the text. Finally, we made advertisements for the peddler’s caps, so he didn’t have to go out, peddle, get so tired, and take a nap. Fun activities that work on writing and reading skills plus a great timeless book equals great reading lessons!
Do you remember reading Caps for Sale as a child? Anyone have an old, old, old copy (as in pre-Reading Rainbow) lying around?
**There’s still time to win one of Clara Gillow Clark’s Hattie books (middle grade historical fiction) by leaving a comment on Tuesday’s post. Contest ends at 8:00 pm CST today!**
January 21st, 2010 at 3:54 pm
I didn’t own this book, as I didn’t own many books as a child, but I did borrow it from the library constantly. When I became a mother, it was one of the first books I bought for my son. Both my children were enchanted with it as I was. I’m sure they’ll read it to their children some day. If they don’t, I will.
January 21st, 2010 at 10:33 pm
What a classic. I’ll have to remember to find a copy next time I’m at the library. This week we read another book about hats the kids enjoyed called “The Magic Hat” by Mem Fox, with whimsical illustrations by Tricia Tusa. Such a fun read.
January 21st, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Oh my gosh, Margo!! I had this book!! I LOVED it and read it over and over! I haven’t thought about it in years. I’ll have to ask my nieces if they might still have it, because most of my “girlie” things and books were passed down to them! I would just love it if they still have it and could send it back to me!! I’ll keep you posted!!
January 22nd, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Cool, Becky. Let me know. It is such a fun book.
January 22nd, 2010 at 11:22 pm
This is one of the children’s books that I’ve found as an adult. It was never one that I read with my parents or borrowed from the library – but I’m glad there are so many copies still around!
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Love this book! I think each of my kids has had “Caps for Sale” as their favorite book at some point in time.