Esphyr Slobodkina Quotes

“So the peddler picked up his caps and put them back on his head- first his own checked cap, then the gray caps, then the brown caps, then the blue caps, then the red caps on the very top.”

“By this time the peddler was really very, very angry. He stamped both his feet and shouted, ‘You monkey’s you! You must give me back my caps!’ ”

“And he sat down very slowly, under the tree and leaned back little by little against the tree-trunk so as not to disturb the caps on his head. ”

“But nobody wanted any caps that morning. Nobody wanted even a red cap. He began to feel very hungry, but he had no money for lunch.”

“At last he became so angry that he pulled off his own cap, threw it on the ground, and began to walk away.”

“He walked up and down the streets, holding himself very straight so as not to upset his caps.”

“Once there was a peddler who sold caps. But he was not like an ordinary peddler carrying his wares on his back. He carried them on top of his head.”

“When he woke up he was refreshed and rested. But before standing up he felt with his hand to make sure his caps were in the right place. All he felt was his own checked cap!”

“The peddler looked at the monkeys. The monkeys looked at the peddler. He didn’t know what to do.”

“each monkey pulled off his cap…and all the gray caps, and all the brown caps, and all the blue caps, and all the red caps came flying down out of the tree.”