Gingerbread Man

by Béatrice Rodriguez

This favorite fairytale is set on a farm. Children will love watching the gingerbread man run away from the old man and woman, the pig, the cow, and the horse, as he taunts them and sings: “Run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!”   A humorous and playful retelling that comes complete with a gingerbread man recipe.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fairy Tales, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2012

About the author

Béatrice Rodriguez received her degree from the School of Decorative Arts in Strasbourg. Today she is a successful and prolific illustrator, creating children's books as well as illustrations and cartoons for the press. She lives in France. She is the author of The Chicken Thief, one of the widely acclaimed and strongly-supported best books of 2010.

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't love this version of this story, but my daughter does. Just about every night she wants to read "cookie man book" and we have to read it again and again. I don't think she really gets that the fox eats the gingerbread man at the end (since he's pictured "tossed up in the air"), but I think she really likes to name all the animals that chase the gingerbread man as well as the little critters tucked around in the pictures. I like to see the expressions on the animals' faces when they realize the inevitable fate of the trusting that sly fox.

[Kristina Moss]

In the classic story the Gingerbread Man, Eric A. Kimmel uses a great voice to retell this favorite. The book is about a Gingerbread man that gets baked but soon jumps out the where he led a great adventure avoiding not to be eaten. I would read this book in my class during the winter holidays. I think integrating the story while introducing rhymes would be great for young students. I also think bringing in actually gingerbread cookies and decorating them would be a great in class assignment.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Straightforward retelling, gingerbread boy gets gobbled at the end. Rodriguez shows her trademark charm with spunky characters brimming with movement and expression. Lots of small incidental animals scattered about.

[Lorna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The classic story has been retold countless times, but the whimsical illustrations make this retelling lots of fun. I love the gingerbread man sticking out his tongue as he runs away.

[Tera · Rating 5 out of 5]

This version of The Gingerbread man invites the farm animals to chase the gingerbread man. Sadly, the children weren't as interested in this book as the parents were. I was afraid the ending of the book would be a little too harsh for kids, so a coworker suggested asking the kids what their favourite cookies were to eat, but I don't think the kids ended up needing that.

[Karim Elmenshawy · Rating 1 out of 5]

run run as fast as you can you can't catch me i'm the gingerbread man

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice, simple version

[Shelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are so many versions of this classic fairy tale! This one was a good version, not my favorite or remarkable in anyway, but o.k.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Beatrice Rodriguez's illustrations... but this is just the basic tale... I was hoping for some sort of fun twist.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story and my kids love it

[Yundehap · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic and cute story.
I love the illustration very much!
It's funny.
I think every body will enjoy the illustration;-)

[Jenn Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book were amazing and my daughter enjoyed them a lot. She however did NOT like the ending of this story and was upset for a little while after the story was over. I had to explain to her that she probably would have eaten the cookie boy too and she replied with a "probably." Would recommend.

[Patricia Teskera · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. No awards
2. Kindergarten to 2nd grade
3. When an old woman bakes a gingerbread man to eat for her husband and herself; the gingerbread man runs off as soon as he is taken out of the oven. All the animals he encounters while running also want to eat him but he runs off yelling that no one can catch him for they are too slow. When he suddenly reaches a river, a sly fox offers to help him across. Read to find out the ending!
4. This book is great for little children because it is very repetitive. The illustrations of the gingerbread man were super funny and cute. This book has an ultimate theme of trust.
5. Make your own gingerbread man, writing prompt: Would you trust the fox?