Book Review #1 Traditional Literature

 

Book Review - Traditional Literature

      

The Gingerbread Man retold by Eric A. Kimmel

Bibliography

Kimmel, Eric A.  1993.  THE GINGERBREAD MAN. Ill. by Megan Lloyd.  New York:  Holiday House.  ISBN  978082341137

Plot Summary

The Gingerbread Man retold my Eric A. Kimmel is a traditional folktale.  In this folktale an old woman and an old man make a gingerbread man, after the gingerbread man has been cooled and decorated it jumps to life and runs out the door.  The gingerbread man runs as fast as he can from the old man and the old woman he passes an old sow, dog, cow and horse.  They all join in with the old man and the old woman to chase the gingerbread man.  As they chase him the gingerbread man teases them with his chant "I'll run and run as fast as I can. You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"

Until he meets a sly fox that who makes him believe he wants to be his friend and help him get across the river.  The sly fox convinces the gingerbread man to slowly get to his snout as they are crossing the river and he gets eaten.  Even though the gingerbread man was eaten it has a happy ending as they say he will return when someone bakes some gingerbread.

Critical Analysis

Eric Kimmel's retelling of this traditional story about a gingerbread man that comes to life and sends the old  man and old woman chasing after him.  This folktale has such a rhythm that children love with the repetition of the chant "I'll run and run as fast as I can. You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man." This contagious chant is repeated throughout the story as various characters are added to the chase of the gingerbread man.  Children can't help but to repeat the chant when they know the gingerbread man is ready to repeat it.  The word choices Kimmel uses are a great opportunity for children to be exposed to other words not just the basic, as he uses "sow" instead of simply saying pig.  He also uses the word "sly" to describe the fox which is a word young children do not commonly use.

Megan Lloyd did an outstanding job with the illustrations, bringing to life the gingerbread man and the characters feelings as they chase the gingerbread man.  Even though the illustrations are simple they help keep the reader engaged in this humorous folktale.

Review Excerpts

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL review: "Kimmel brings humor and warmth to the retelling of this spicy classic.  His text has a fast-paced rhythm that is perfect for read-alouds or storytelling."

BOOKLIST:  "The familiar tale gets a lift in this sprightly edition."

Connections

*Read other Gingerbread Man books and compare and contrast the two stories.

*Other versions of The Gingerbread Man:

Johnson, Bruce B.  THE GINGERBREAD MAN. ISBN 0590410563

McCafferty, Catherine.  THE GINGERBREAD MAN. ISBN 1624422357