The Gingerbread Man (North-South Paperback) [Paperback]

John Rowe (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Series: North-South Paperback

The Gingerbread Man scurries across the fields, challenging and outdistancing everyone until he meets his match in the sly old fox and fulfills every good cookie's destiny--to be eaten. Full color.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2?A new edition of a well-known tale. The text has been slightly altered: all the characters are animals, beginning with the baker, who is a mother mouse. Each page of text faces a full-page acrylic painting. The illustrations' composition, viewpoint, and strong colors are offbeat, almost mannered, and children are likely to find them baffling. The Gingerbread Man himself appears to be a flat cutout, lacking features, and is usually the smallest object on the page, belying his importance to the story. In one picture, the river appears to be a pond, and literal-minded readers will wonder why the cookie doesn't simply go around it. The purple mother mouse looks menacing, and the hedgehog looks more like an elephant shrew on a bad hair day. The relationship between the text and pictures is an uneasy one: creatures appear that aren't mentioned in the text, and none of the animals appears to be chasing the runaway morsel. There are 17 other versions of this story in print, including Eric Kimmel's The Gingerbread Man (Holiday, 1993) and Paul Galdone's The Gingerbread Boy (Clarion, 1979). Either is a preferable choice, although large collections might want to add Rowe's as an example of the inspiration a classic tale can provide an artist.?Pam Gosner, Maplewood Memorial Library, NJ
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

``Ha ha ha, hee hee hee, I'm the Gingerbread Man and you can't catch me!'' taunts the fleet-footed cookie. Across the fields he scurries, challenging and outdistancing all comers until he meets his match in the sly old fox and fulfills every good cookie's destiny: to be eaten. This English folktale still has zip, and its lead player is still infuriating, the kind of guy readers are only too delighted to see devoured (or parodied, as a Stinky Cheese Man). This book is a welcome addition to the burgeoning gingerbread shelf, with Rowe's luxurious acrylic illustrations, saturated with great plains of bold color. The Gingerbread Man's targets are appealing characters in settings that often contain an eccentric touch or two: the mice's piebald house, strange trees, skies that look like a plague of locust are passing through. As for the cookie, he's a faceless little cutout who could be genetically related to Gumby, a ridiculous windbag richly deserving of his fate. (Picture book. 3-6) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: North-South / Night Sky Books (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558589066
• ISBN-13: 978-1558589063
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,095,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars A Simple Story and Colorful Illustrations, April 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Gingerbread Man (North-South Paperback) (Paperback)

I was not familiar with this story when I bought it to read to my daughter. I was simply browsing for something new, having tired of reading over & over her many other books.

In the story, a gingerbread cookie runs away when the oven door is opened. He is chased by several animals and is finally caught by a fox who tricks him into climbing on his back to cross a river.

In the illustrations, the animals do not appear to really have any interest in the gingerbread cookie at all. The text may say that the cookie is being chased, but the illustrations don't bear that out.

The illustrations are drawn with bold vivid colors which are pleasing to the eye. They are abstract & angular. For example, the gingerbread man cookie, is red & looks like a faceless Gumby doll. In the past few days since purchasing the book my toddler has requested to read it each night; so, there is some appeal in the simple storyline.