More Caps for Sale: Another Tale of Mischievous Monkeys

The charming, never-before-published sequel to Caps for Sale Those mischievous monkeys are at it again, bringing laughs to a new generation of readers.

Since Esphyr Slobodkina's Caps for Sale was first published in 1940, millions of children have savored the original tale of the peddler, his caps, and a band of very funny monkeys. Now More Caps for Sale continues the story, picking up right where Caps for Sale left off.

More Caps for Sale is the first posthumous book from Esphyr Slobodkina and is based on story ideas shared with Ann Marie Mulhearn Sayer throughout their years as friends and business associates prior to Esphyr's death in 2002. The warmth and humor of the simple text and bright illustrations creates the perfect opportunity for early readers to experience a classic folktale tradition.

Ann Marie Mulhearn Sayer met Esphyr Slobodkina in 1996, when she was hired to write musical narratives for Caps for Sale and other Slobodkina books. Slobodkina and Sayer became close friends, and Sayer has administrated and exhibited Slobodkina's works for over eighteen years. Using Slobodkina's original art and reflecting upon hours of conversations with her on perspective and her choices in stylization, Sayer employed great care to develop each layout as the artist herself might have done. More Caps for Sale is based on story ideas from Slobodkina and Sayer's imagination with prior permission from Slobodkina. Through this posthumous story, Sayer awakens Slobodkina's voice. To learn more about Ann Marie visit www.CapsforSale.org.

Esphyr Slobodkina (1908-2002), internationally renowned artist and author of the children's classic Caps for Sale, was among the first female American artists to explore abstraction and the first to use collage in American storybooks. She studied art in Russia and China before immigrating to the United States in 1928. She was a founding member of the American Abstract Artists group, and her work is represented in prominent museum collections across the country.

In addition to Caps for Sale Slobodkina also wrote and/or illustrated over 24 children's books. Over the decades she also completed hundreds of paintings and assemblage works that can be found in major museums in the United States.

Before her death in late 2002 Slobodkina left copious notes and illustrations for additional stories. Slobodkina encouraged her assistant and protégé Ann Marie Mulhearn Sayer to carry on her storybook work after Slobodkina's death. Many of Slobodkina's story ideas and characters (including Slobodkina herself) are incorporated into the continuing Caps for Sale book series.