'Caps for Sale' is the most famous children's book by Esfir Slobodkina, an American avant-garde artist of Russian descent. It is a humorous story, written and illustrated by her, about a hapless cap merchant who one day decides to take a rest and falls asleep under a tree, only to wake up to find his entire wares gone.


First published in 1940, 'Caps for Sale' was the first book in the United States made using paper collage. In the nearly 80 years since its original publication, the book has become recognized as a classic and instantly recognizable to several generations of Americans. In 2013, the book was included in the list of the 100 best children's books compiled by the New York Public Library. 'Captains for Sale' has been translated into many languages, but this is the first time the book has been published in Russian, to mark the 110th anniversary of Slobodkina's birth.