Kimmel, Eric A. 1993. THE GINGERBREAD MAN. Ill. By
Megan Lloyd. New York, NY: Holiday House. ISBN 9780823408248
Brief
Plot Summary:
An old woman baked a gingerbread man and he miraculously came to
life. He immediately jumped off the pan
and ran out the door. As he was running,
he was pursued by the old woman, an old man, a horse, cow, dog, and pig, who
each called out to him but he ignored them all.
He finally came to a stop and encountered a “friendly” fox who offered
to help him cross the river. The fox
cleverly lured the gingerbread right into his mouth.
Critical
analysis: The
Gingerbread Man is an impulsive, naïve character, as evidenced by the fact that
he blindly raced out of the old woman’s kitchen, ignored repeated attempts to
slow him down, and ran straight into the mouth of the fox. These qualities are reinforced each time he repeats
his mantra of “I’ll run and run as fast as I can…” to each animal who tries to
stop him. The rural setting and quaint
illustrations give the impression of a rather long run through a peaceful farm
of friendly animals who would like to get to know him, while the cunning fox
appears to skulk towards him as he nears the river. There is no mistaking that things will not
end well for the Gingerbread Man.
Awards won:
No award information found.
Reviews:
PreS-- Kimmel
brings humor and warmth to the retelling of this spicy classic. His text has a
fast-paced rhythm that is perfect for read-alouds or storytelling. The deft
prose has a strong narrative, good dialogue, and a fine chorus from the
Gingerbread Man himself. Lloyd's illustrations work in tandem with the text to
create verve and motion while maintaining a ``fresh-from-the-oven'' appeal. Her
engaging art works beautifully with Kimmel's retelling to keep both eye and
action moving across each page, thus enhancing the story's pace. This is a
welcome addition to the ranks of gingerbread men who line library shelves--even
Galdone's classic telling (Clarion, 1983) will seem a bit dull compared to this
version. Lloyd's illustrations remain striking both closeup and at a distance.
A book that's sure to hold every reader and story-hour audience through to a
most satisfyingly delicious ending. --Elizabeth Hanson, Chicago Public Library
Copyright 1993 Cahners Business Information.
Connections:
Eric A. Kimmel has written a variant of The Gingerbread Man titled The
Runaway Tortilla (2000). As the title
suggests, a tortilla runs away from its creator and fails to heed the calls of
animal that it encounters in its path, until it has a fateful encounter with a
coyote.
I found several interesting activities related to
The Gingerbread Man:
- The teacher reads the story to the group and then introduces the characters using word cards and uses flannel boards to answer questions such as “which animal came first?”, “did this animal harm the Gingerbread Man?”, and “which animal came last?”.
- Have the kids bake gingerbread cookies, if possible, or bring some for them to enjoy. Before eating the cookies, each child gets to tell a brief story about their gingerbread man.
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