Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews

The Gingerbread Man

The Gingerbread Man

Retold by Jim Aylesworth
Illustrator:   Barbara McClintock 
Board Book
Foe ages 3 to 5
Scholastic, 1998   ISBN: 978-0545235143

One day a little old woman suggests that she and her husband should make a gingerbread man. Soon the two are busy making dough, rolling it out, shaping it, and decorating it. Then they put their creation in the oven to bake.

   When they open the oven door, their gingerbread man scampers out across the floor. He tells the old couple to run as “Fast as you can! / You can’t catch me!” Not surprisingly the old man tells the Gingerbread Man to “Come Back!” but the colorful baked man has no interest in being “a snack,” so he runs out of the old couple’s house with them in hot pursuit.

   When the Gingerbread Man meets a butcher who is standing outside his shop, he taunts him by saying “I’ll run away from you too!” Not surprisingly, the butcher joins the chase.

   Children are going to enjoy this wonderful adaptation of the classic fairy tale. The illustrations are packed with rich details giving children so much to look at.