The Gingerbread Man

by Jim Aylesworth, Barbara McClintock (Illustrator)

Synopsis A freshly baked gingerbread man escapes when he is taken out of the oven and eludes a number of pursuers until he meets a clever fox. Publisher's Note A new rendition of a beloved classic. "Concisely written text and a jazzy refrain....You may have other versions on your shelves - make lots of room for copies of this one." - The Bulletin of the Center for Childrens Books, starred review. An irresistible retelling of a beloved classic is accompanied by whimsical animal images and a recipe for gingerbread cookies, in a rollicking picture book by an award-winning author and illustrator. In this irresistible retelling, the Gingerbread Man taunts a crowd of hungry cookie lovers. Children enjoy chiming in with Aylesworth's charming, rollicking refrains, accompanied by whimsical animal images and a delicious recipe for gingerbread men. Full color.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Christmas, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Fiction, Food

29 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Jim Aylesworth was born in Jacksonville, Florida but as an infant moved from the state. He lived in many places during his childhood: Alabama, Indiana, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas... but by the time Aylesworth was 15 his family had settled in Hinsdale, Illinois and that is where he graduated from high school in 1961.

In 1965, he graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio with a B.A. in English. He returned to Hinsdale and began a career as a stockbroker. By 1970, however, Aylesworth was thinking about what he really wanted to do. After a series of assignments as a substitute teacher, Aylesworth ended up in a primary classroom. He began teaching first grade students in Oak Park, Illinois in 1971 and entered Concordia College in River Forest, Illinois, to earn a graduate degree in elementary education -- a goal he reached in 1978.

But it was his work with children that brought him the most reward. It was Aylesworth's experiences as a teacher that eventually led him to writing children's books.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

The classic tale of the runaway Gingerbread Man, who escapes his hungry creators, as well as a string of others met upon the road, before his fateful encounter with a fox, is here retold by the marvelously talented Jim Aylesworth and Barbara McClintock, whose other projects include Goldilocks and the Three Bears , The Tale of Tricky Fox , and (most recently) The Mitten . With a narrative just made for reading aloud, and delightful watercolor, ink and gouache illustrations, this is without a doubt my favorite retelling of this popular story.

Similar in content and style to a number of European tales also featuring runaway edibles - the Slavic Kolobok, retold as The Little Round Bun in Irina Zheleznova's Ukrainian Folk Tales ; the Norwegian Pannekaken, found in Asbjørnsen and Moe's Norwegian Folktales ; or the Scots tale, The Wee Bannock, collected by Joseph Jacobs in More English Fairy Tales - The Gingerbread Man is the American contribution to this tale-type, and although it appeared as late as 1875 (in a children's periodical), has become the definitive version for many readers in this country.

What child doesn't thrill to the insouciant Gingerbread Man's taunting rhyme: "Run! Run! / Fast as you can! / You can't catch me! / I'm the Gingerbread Man!"? Aylesworth's narrative has all the humor and fun of the original, while McClintock's art ably conveys the building excitement of the story, culminating in that foxy ending. Highly recommended to anyone who loves this tale in particular, or sing-songy folktales in general.

[Miss Meghan's Class · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok. So there's a reason that I purchased this book - besides the fact that I loved the story as a kid. I have a child in my class (Elijah) and he is one of those wild and crazy kids with lots of energy that always makes you crack up. So, he runs away from the kids, who aren't as fast as he is, yelling "Run run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man." This is every day on the playground - and we would all laugh and it would be repeated throughout center time. So, a couple of weeks ago, I was trying to stop myself from becoming frustrated while perusing the book tables at Garden Ridge and came across a really nice version of the book and decided to purchase it. The kids laugh and laugh every time we read it and most of them have it memorized by now.

Ok - so we all know the story - no one can catch him after he escapes from the oven until he makes the mistake of trusting the fox at the end. I mean, seriously - who trusts a fox?? He deserved the outcome. But still a great story. Definitely recommended to kids as well as the kid at heart.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has never been one of my favorite stories. Consequently, I didn't have a copy of the story on my shelves and I haven't read this to any of the kids. Not good. So today I found this book, illustrated by McClintock. It's a faithful retelling with clear, clean, and interesting art, but I still don't care for the tale. It's so cannibalistic. (But the gingerbread boy is asking for trouble with his constant taunts!)

According to McClintock, the gingerbread man was baked in an old fashioned stove. The old couple who cooked him are obviously skilled. If I tried cooking a giant cookie in our old stove, I'm sure there would be at least a few burnt spots on the edges.

[Amara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty illustrations, but not my favorite version. And the way the fox eats him is not the way I grew up hearing it. And the fox was weirdly handsome, but that could be me reading too many antihero romances😁

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Snarky, obnoxious pastry gets devoured by a hungry fox.

What's not to love?

[Annie]

I enjoyed how “old school” this version was. Instead of just a pig, we have a “sow” (which I don’t see often, if at all, in Children’s books). All of the animals are dressed in a rather distinguished way. And the stove was one of those fire-fueled ones (sad to say I don’t know the proper name). Given how myopic my students are, these glimpses into the imaginations of the past are greatly needed. The students were HIGHLY engaged (literally would not stop talking). Perhaps too engaged..?? They thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this tale as a child, and this is an excellent version, but I do find the ending rather upsetting, more so than I did as a child. I liked “gingerbread men” cookies back then and I wasn’t a vegan either, so maybe that has something to do with it, or perhaps it’s my overly developed “adulthood” intruding. I still enjoyed this tale, and it’s a perfect read aloud book.

I like the nice touch of having a gingerbread cookies recipe in the back of the book.
Barbara McClintock's illustrations are always wonderful and Jim Aylesworth has written an interesting version of the story.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This version of this classic, traditional story is fun to read aloud as it rhymes beautifully and lends to choral reading the repeat phrase as you go. It's reading level is fairly easy for lower elementary, but it would be a fun version to compare to others for the 2nd grade MN ELA standard of comparing different versions of the same story. In the version I remember as a child, he gets away, but in this version he trusts a fox and gets eaten! Other than that, it is the typical traditional version of running around town evading people and taunting them as he goes. It's a fun book, decent pictures.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This classic tale of the gingerbread man is illustrated using watercolor, sepia ink, and gouache. The repetitive refrain of the fleeing gingerbread man is an excellent way to engage children in storytelling. Whether used as a bedtime story, a classroom read aloud, or as reader's theater this story is a favorite!

[Puja Patel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This classic has many characters and settings. This book is a fun read and it would be ideal to use it when learning about the parts of a story, beginning, middle, and end, characters, plot, summary, setting, etc.

[Hailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very FUNNY.Children and adults would like it too.You should read this book.

[Kerstin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was drawn to this version of the classic tale by the lovely and humorous illustrations.

[JV]

A melhor parte é quando leio

Run, run as fast as you can!
You cannot catch me. I am the Gingerbread Man!

E minha filha cruza a sala naruto-running!

[Rachel Battocletti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as part of the Guided Creative Curriculum to my preschool students. They LOVE this story and ask to read it again and again. They enjoy the repetition and being able to “read” along.

[Tiuri · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting retelling of the fairytale…definitely had a more abbreviated ending than I was expecting. Also, the humanoid animals (cow, pig etc) being upright and in human clothes, were sort of unpleasant. On the positive side, I loved the sort of wild abandon with which this gingerbread man taunted everyone he met and then ran on, head fling back with glee. Plus, he’s just so cute!

[Marissa Scott]

The books that I decided to chose for this week are ones that I read as a child but had to do with either fairy tales or folk tales. The book I decided to reread for this week was The Gingerbread Man retold by Jim Aylesworth. I was always intrigued by this book when I was young and it always sparked my imagination when I ate gingerbread cookies around the holidays at home. I was always waiting for the cookie I frosted to pop to life and run off my plate just like how the Gingerbread Man ran out of the oven as soon as he was done baking. When I was in high school though, I read the Grimms Brothers' version of this story and I was shocked by the difference between kids versions and the old versions. I would use the kids versions in my elementary aged classes because they are pretty simple language that kids would be able to understand easily. Also, the repetition in the books allows kids who are still grasping the concept of reading to have a couple versus that they know from hearing it over and over several times. For example, in this book, the Gingerbread Man repeats the phrase "Run! Run! Fast as you can! You can't catch me! I'm the Gingerbread Man!" and "No! No! I won't come back! I'd rather run than be your snack!"after meeting each character in the story. This helps younger kids learn how to read, because they have fun repeating these phrases as soon as they comes up in the book and then the kids start to see how each of these phrases look when written out, and eventually they will connect the words with the ones they are hearing to the ones they are now looking at in the book. Also, I wouldn't even mention the darker versions of this story, like the one by Grimms Brothers, until maybe high school just because it is such a well known classic folk tale that I wouldn't want younger kids to only associate this story with the darker version of it. For next week's books, I will probably stay within the fairy tale/folk tale genre since we will still be discussing that topic in class. I'd like to find versions of stories that I have read before but with a twist just to see what variations there are out there. Or I might try to find some folk tales or fairy tales that I have never read before to expand my knowledge and views on them further.

[Clive · Rating 4 out of 5]

The whole family enjoys this retelling. The art style is fun.

[Antionea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a gingerbread man who was created by an old man and his wife.The couple designed the gingerbread really well.Once they were finished they place the gingerbread into the oven,and when it was time to get the gingerbread out of the oven,surprisingly the the gingerbread man hoped out of the oven and took off he chanted "Run run as fast as you can you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man" as he took off he ran into a butcher,then a cow,and a muddy sow he he all chanted " Run run as fast as you can you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man, and as he would take off he would say "No no I won't come back I'd rather run than become your snack" and off he would go. Then suddenly the gingerbread man ran into a fox and he said " Run run as fast as you can you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man" and the fox acted as if he couldn't hear the gingerbread man so he told the gingerbread man to come closer I can't hear you and as the gingerbread came closer and closer the fox ate the gingerbread man in one bite. Then came running tow the fox the old man and his wife, the cow, the muddy sole, and the butcher who were upset at the fox for not saving them a bite, and that was the last of the gingerbread man.
The litary of this book was a fun pattern to get and keep interest in young children who are listening or reading on their own.The words were really simple,and huge letters easy for the children see or even learn to spell.
I gave this book 5 stars because I like the fun pattern of the book the gingerbread man running and taunting the married couple,butcher,cow,and muddy fox

[Megan Garrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copyright- 1998
Number of Pages-32
Book format-paperback
Reading Level-PreK-K GR Level- I
Genre- Fiction
Lit. Requirement- Traditional Literature-3

This is a fairy tale told by Jim Aylesworth. An elderly couple decides to bake a gingerbread man. They put him into the oven, but when they open it the gingerbread man jumps out and runs out the house! He then says the famous line, "Run! Run! Fast as you can! You can't catch me! I'm the Gingerbread Man!" He ran away from home with the couple chasing him. He then ran by a butcher and he replied with the same line as before. He ran by a cow and a pig as well and eventually they were all chasing him. He then ran into a fox and he yelled the same line as before but the fox replied that he could not hear him. The Gingerbread Man yelled his famous line and leaned by his ear. The fox grabbed him and ate him and that was the end of the story.
I found this story to be interesting because all of the animals are dressed as people and are doing human like behaviors. It is a mix of animals and humans which I found interesting in a fairy tale. Typically animals are in fairy tales and are given human like qualities, but this was a combination of the two. I liked the rhyming and repetition of the Gingerbread Man's phrase. I think this would be good to read to a younger group of children and the moral of not talking to strangers could be tied into it.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story starts with a British undertone and with characters who look as if they're from old Britain. The illustrations are detailed, but sometimes unrealistic. The cow, pig, and fox were standing and had human characteristics and body language which was the weirdest part of the book. The story line, however, was very well written in that the language was fun to read and the rhyming made the story easy to tell if one had to read it out loud.

The plot of this re-telling is that everyone wanted to nibble the gingerbread man but he ran too fast until the cookie met the fox. The fox then ate the gingerbread man all up without leaving any crumb for anyone else. This allows there to be two themes to the story. The original theme of if was that if you are boastful, someone cleverer than you will come along and destroy you. The additional theme with this re-telling is one of greed. The fox was so eager to eat up the gingerbread man that his greed overtook him and he left not even one crumb for any of the other characters. The other characters were illustrated as being sad that they didn't get a bite because the fox was so greedy.

A reader is able to form a deep connection to the characters due to the illustrations that depict telling facial expressions as well as through the text that lifts and deflates the mood continuously as the story is told.

[Meaghan Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gingerbread Man By: Jim Aylesworth 1998
Meaghan G., Spring 2015
**Traditional Literature #1**

This is by far my favorite book! I have always loved this book. This story tells the tale of an old married husband and wife whom decided to make a gingerbread man for a snack. They decorated him and made him into a cute little man. When the Gingerbread man was fully baked, the elderly couple opened the door and he sprang up to life and runs away. The Gingerbread man goes on an adventure through the town and runs away from others whom are trying to eat him. The Gingerbread man comes up with a fancy rhyme and the younger readers can catch on and say it along after every mislead encounter he has within the town. I will not ruin the end of the story, but be prepared for a kleenex!

Like it was stated above, this is by far my favorite children's book and it has so much adventure and fun-filled emotion for younger readers! I would use this book in my classroom for grades Kindergarten through 3rd grade the latest. This story can be used for Christmas time and as well as folk tale weeks. I personally recommend this story for all teachers teaching those grades because it truly is a fun and catchy read. I give this book a 5 gingerbreads out of 5 gingerbreads!

[Sarah Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to love this story as a child. Not only is it appropriate for younger grade levels, but it can be read by older children as well. It can help them think back on their childhood as well as think of other stories that they have heard that could be similar to the gingerbread man. This story has so many bright and colorful pictures. The dialogue throughout it was easy enough for younger grade levels but also not too easy that older kids would breeze right though.

An activity i would use as a teacher would be to go home and make gingerbread men for all of my kids. I would read the story to my kids and listen to what they would do if they were the gingerbread men. I would pass out a cookie to each of my students and let them decorate themselves as if they were infact in the story as the gingerbread men. However they decorate, i would want them to explain why they chose the decorations that they chose. They would also have to tell me what they would have used if they could have chosen anything in the story such as use a plane or a bike so that the gingerbread man could have gotten away faster.

[Marissa Ebert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has not won any awards.

"The Gingerbread Man" is appropriate for pre-k to kindergarten students.

This book is about an old couple who decided to make a gingerbread man. Once the gingerbread man was cooked, he jumped out of the oven and taunted the old couple, running away. The couple chased after him, but the gingerbread man did not want to be eaten. He escapes from many trying to catch him, but ultimately is eaten by a fox.

This is a cute story that everyone has at least heard about. Barbara McClintock is an award winning illustrator, and it shows in this story. The students will find the gingerbread man's antics hilarious, and the book is great to read during December, when the holidays are approaching.

After conducting a read aloud of this book, you can make gingerbread men with your whole class. The gingerbread can be made together, and students can decorate their own little gingerbread men however they want. Also, students can be asked to create their own recipe for gingerbread men, with a little help from the teacher. The teacher can explain measurements and cooking times to the students to help create a base of information for them to use.

[Becky Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gingerbread Man

Grades K-3rd

McClintock illustrated this aged tale of the Gingerbread Man fleeing from the little old woman, the butcher with his knife and so on. The characters are drawn very life like except for the Gingerbread Man. He is a little colorful cookie who looks like he does not belong on the page. The illustrations take up a little more than half of each page leaving the text to be a backdrop in the landscape. The text is very catchy and rhymes which makes for a good read. “And quick as a wink, before he could think, with a snap and a snick, and a lap and lick, The Gingerbread Man was gone!” This fable is one that students have heard over and over again but not always with the same ending. Students will enjoy the chase and the not knowing of what is going to happen at the end of the story.

Physical development and health/science

Science example: Students can bake and create their own gingerbread cookies and discuss the ingredients used to make gingerbread. Then they can retell the story with their own gingerbread man while they eat it!

[Nora Alomari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade level interest: K-2nd grade
Lexile Level: 450L
Genre: Picture Book/ Traditional Literature

Main Characters: Gingerbread man, fox, cow, old man and women, butcher,
Setting: Kitchen/ Forest/ River
POV: Gingerbread man

This book is about an old man and women who want to bake a perfect gingerbread man. Once the cookie is out of the over, he comes to life and runs away. He says "No, No, No you cant catch me I'm the gingerbread man". While he is on the run, he uses different people and animals to get to where he wants to be. His strategy seems to be working until he meets the fox. This is where the journey of the gingerbread man ends.

I would use this book during a unit on fairy tales or around the holiday season. I think this would be fun as read aloud. What I would do with this book is have students color their own gingerbread cookies and then write a story about their gingerbread man similar to the story. This would be a fun activity that gives students the opportunity to work on their writing.

[Alex Hobart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Level: 2.7
Summary - The Gingerbread Man is the traditional story of a man and a woman who decide to make a gingerbread man one day. But this gingerbread man runs away, while he is running away, he runs from a butcher, a cow, and a sow. The only one who was able to catch the ginger bread man was the fox.
Characteristics that Support the Genre - This is a traditional story because it has been told in many different forms for many years. There are many different morals that could also be taken from this story, from being persistent to having patients.
Idea- the theme of this text is found in the title of the book, and can be seen from the first pages all the way to the end with the repetition of the gingerbread man's song
Organization- This book shows that at the beginning the goal is to catch the gingerbread man and that goal stays true all the way to the end
Like most traditional stories it is important to have them in the classroom because they have lessons built right into the story.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade level: Preschool-Kindergarten
Awards: None
Summary: The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth is a story about a old couple who make and bake their very own gingerbread man. To their surprise the gingerbread man leaps out of the oven and runs away from the couple. He does does not want to be eaten as a snack so he runs away from the butcher, and even a cow. But he gets tricked by a sly fox at the end of the story.
Review: This story is a traditional tale that has been passed down from generation to generation. I remember being read this story when I was younger. The vivid images are realistic and the story almost puts the reader in the gingerbread man's shoes. I would highly recommend this lively and enjoyable story to anyone who is looking for a fun tale on pass on through the generations.
Classroom uses: This story can be incorporated into all subjects including teaching CVC words on the gingerbread man's stomach, to doing addition with gingerbread men, and even rewriting the ending to the story.

[Brittni Hover]

An old lady loved to be in the kitchen, and one day decided to bake a gingerbread man. Once she baked it and opened the oven the gingerbread man came to life and jumped out of the oven. He ran outside with the old women chasing him. He ran all over and nobody could catch him. He finally was caught and eaten by the old man. This is a traditional literature book because it has been around for many years. Many people have heard some version of the gingerbread man.

The text features in this book are voice sentence fluency and voice. The book has a lot of repetition of “run run as fast as you can, can’t catch me I’m the gingerbread man.” With the pictures you can tell exactly what the voice could be when the old lady was shocked when he ran out the oven, and when she couldn’t catch him. This book could be used around Christmas time when the students are making gingerbread houses or making gingerbread men. This book has a level of 2.7.

[Michelle Cummings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: The Gingerbread Man, by Jim Aylesworth is a classic story about a Gingerbread man who jumps out of the oven and runs away from the old woman who baked him. He comes across many problems during his adventure and runs away shouting, “Run, run, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread man!” Eventually the gingerbread man is eaten by a fox.

Genre: Picture books, traditional literature

Classroom Use: This book would be a great read aloud because the students could all join in with the repeated line, “Run, run, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread man!”

Writing Traits: This book could be used to teach conventions because there is a lot of different types of punctuation used in the story. This book could also be used to teach sentence fluency because the sentences flow together nicely and have a rhythmic quality.

Reading Level: 2.5
Interest Level: PreK-2

[Sophia Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

The gingerbread man ran out the door away from the man and woman, and the butcher and so on and he continued to boast that they could not catch him. I'm not really sure if I would call this a solution but the Gingerbread man ran into a sneaky fox who pretended not to be able to hear, and when he crept closer and closer the fox grabbed him and ate him before anyone else could get there to help the Gingerbreadman. This story could be compared to the other ones in my Goodreads from other cultures.
This book is a k-2nd-grade level book. I think that this book could be fun in the kindergarten classroom if we did the activity of students making gingerbread men cookies and watching us put them in the oven, then reading the book, then checking on the cookies and them "running away" and we have to find them. This way the book "comes to life' in an aspect and students can see how their imagination becomes real sometimes.