Kimmel, Eric A., Retold. 1993. THE GINGERBREAD MAN. Ill. By Megan Lloyd. New York, NY: Holiday House. ISBN 0-8234-0824-8
PLOT SUMMARY
This traditional fairytale begins as an old couple finishes making gingerbread dough that they rolled out and cut into the shape of a gingerbread man. After he is baked and cooled, the couple decorates him with licorice, icing and peppermints. Suddenly the gingerbread man cookie comes to life and runs out of the house telling the couple that they won’t be able to catch him. The gingerbread man passes a sow, a dog, a horse and a cow during his run from the old couple. Each animal tags along in chasing after the gingerbread man to try and catch him. In each incidence the gingerbread boy chants, “I’ll run and run as fast as I can. You can’t catch me. I’m the gingerbread man!” He further chants out each of the people he has run away from, “I ran from the woman. I ran from the man. I’ll run from you. See if I can!”
The gingerbread boy finally runs out of space to keep running when he arrives at a river. The gingerbread boy is startled by a clever fox that befriends him and assures him that he is a helpful fox. The fox convinces him to jump onto his tale so he can stay dry while crossing the river. The gingerbread boy follows the fox’s directions. As the water gets deeper, the fox cleverly convinces the gingerbread man to move towards his back and then to the top of his head so he can continue to stay dry. Lastly the gingerbread man moves to the fox’s snout to keep dry. Suddenly, the fox tosses the gingerbread man up in the air and follows up by eating him in one bite. Not to be left as a sad ending, the reader is reminded that each time a batch of gingerbread is baked, the gingerbread man returns.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This traditional folklore fairytale is a very fast paced story. In retrospect it’s hard to imagine that an old man and an old woman would be able to run after a runaway cookie, but Lloyds illustrations are created with action in mind. She uses bright water colors throughout and gives the gingerbread boy real flexibility in his running motions, contrary to that of a traditional flat baked piece of gingerbread. The gingerbread man has many humorous smiles on his face until he faces the fox, but that quickly changes as his trust in the fox seems instantaneous. Lloyd’s illustrations truly bring a picturesque quality to depicting Kimmel’s retelling of The Gingerbread Boy.
The cadence and rhythm of a repeated phrase builds as the story progresses. The words, “I’ll run and run as fast as I can. You can’t catch me. I’m the gingerbread man! I ran from the woman. I ran from the man. I’ll run from you. See if I can,” gives an exasperating feel of breathlessness as the gingerbread man is literally running for his life.
The setting occurs mostly outdoors and stretches across classic farmland with lots of barbed wire fencing and scattered junk piles. The old couple’s kitchen and outside of the house are representative to the typical way of living in a rural community.
The happy ending was quickly created almost as an afterthought. It reminded me of the kiddie song Frosty the Snowman when the song concludes that although Frosty melted, he’ll be back again someday. Kimmel’s retelling eludes a similar phrase about the gingerbread man coming back too. It is definitely a one page after thought to erase the tragedy that happened the page before of the gingerbread man getting eaten. The reader should be cautioned to never let their guard down to people they don’t know. Earned trust takes time.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
School Library Journal: “A book that's sure to hold every reader and story-hour audience through to a most satisfyingly delicious ending.”
Booklist: “This is a story that calls for energetic art, and Lloyd provides just that in warm-toned watercolors that feature the gingerbread man zipping across the pages. A compact text and suitably large pictures make this just right for groups.”
Horn Book: “A fresh retelling of a perennial favorite for reading aloud. Delightful watercolors capture with humor the movement and pace of the story, making this a pleasant addition to any collection.”
CONNECTIONS
*Instead of allowing the fox to gobble up the gingerbread boy, don’t read that page and instead, act like you just saw the gingerbread boy jump out of the book and run out of the classroom. The teacher and kids move about the school stopping at various places like the cafeteria kitchen, school office, nurse’s clinic, library, gym, computer lab, music room and anywhere else that orients students with the school building. School personnel should be prepped ahead of time to say they saw the gingerbread boy, but that he kept running when the students stop by looking for him. Be sure to have staged a spot like the principal’s office in the end so students can finally find the gingerbread boy paper cutout, have a chance to be introduced to the principal and find out that he left gingerbread cookies for all. This is a great activity to do with Kindergarten students on the first or second day of a new school year.
*Create a Venn Diagram comparing other versions of The Gingerbread Man
*Introduce symmetry using a cut out of a gingerbread man
*Have students search the story book and write down as many words as they can find that end with the letters –an (can, man, ran, etc.) for a word study phonics activity
No comments:
Post a Comment