The Gingerbread Man (Jim Aylesworth)

This book would be labeled as traditional literature. It would be a great read for children in grades k-2 because of its use of repetition throughout the entirety of the book. It would also be appealing to this age group because of the vibrant colors and pictures evident in this book. The plot in this tale begin with the hunger of an elderly couple. They decide to bake a gingerbread cookie to satisfy their need. The make the dough and dress the cookie before placing him in a wood-burning stove. When the couple opens the oven, the gingerbread cookie man exits the the oven running and belting out his classic chant. The couple chases him, but to no avail, they could not catch him. The gingerbread man continues to outsmart and outrun a series of characters who wish to devour him, including a butcher, a cow, and a pig dressed in clothing. He eludes and evades them all with ease until he reaches the sly fox. The gingerbread man tries to antagonize the fox with his chant, but the fox pretends to be hard of hearing and beckons the cookie to come closer to him. The gingerbread man moves closer and begins his chant again, and again the fox beckons him to come closer. The cookie adheres to the foxes command once again and begins his chant yet another time. This time, in the blink of the eye before the gingerbread man could even finish his chant, the fox quickly and swiftly captures the cookie in his mouth and devours him while all of the others look on in disappointment. One thing I found interesting about this book, is that in most adaptations of this tale when a new character begins to chase the cookie, the ones who were previously in pursuit of the cookie gave up the chase. In this book, all of the characters chased the cookie until his untimely demise. From the clothing of the old couple and the pig, the setting appears to be on a countryside in Great Britain during the Victorian Era. The theme that I gained from this book is that you should always consider who you trust. The gingerbread man was too entrusting to the fox and because of this, the gingerbread cookie is no more. This book was illustrated by Babara McClintock.