Published: 27th October 2015
Publisher: HarperCollins
Illustrator: Esphyr Slobodkina
Pages: 40
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars
Celebrate the 75th anniversary of the perennial favorite Caps for Sale with this never-before-published sequel to the beloved classic! In this first posthumous book from Esphyr Slobodkina, those mischievous monkeys are at it again, bringing laughs to a new generation of readers. The sequel, More Caps for Sale, picks up right where Caps for Sale left off, as the peddler comes face-to-face with those monkeys and their funny business yet again.
This sequel comes long after the publication of the first one in 1940 and is official in the sense that according to the authors note Slobodkina told Mulhearn Sayer to continue her work after her death and apparently they worked on this book together.
This story continues on immediately after the interaction with the monkeys in the first book as the peddler contemplates what occurred and how upset he is at not having sold any caps that day.
Once again the narrative uses repetition and mimicking in the monkeys actions and the peddler’s, and once again the peddler gets angry at the monkeys, somewhat incorrectly this time as they are less of a hindrance this time and more harmlessly mischievous.
The style of writing is similar to the first. The short sentences, the repetition as mentioned, and the basic story all feel like the original style Slobodkina wrote in. The illustrations are the same with the same basic but detailed style and if you combine the two together they could almost be the same story, a longer picture book with no deviation of story whatsoever.
The narrative asks questions to the reader which is engaging, just like the first story, and no doubt the antics of the monkeys will entertain kids. The monkeys have a larger role this time and do more than simply thievery in the first which is entertaining, especially given the peddler’s reaction and the impact that involvement has.
I don’t feel like the first book is ruined by this, it remains one of my favourite children’s books, but I do think it doesn’t hold the same standing. Whether that has to do with the additional author, the different era, or it was always going to be that way I don’t know. It’s a fun addition and with so many similarities it is still just as good as the original I think I’m always wary of posthumous sequels to famous books so long after the fact I probably go in unjustly sceptical before I start.
You can purchase More Caps for Sale via the following
Lost in a Good Book 