The traditional tale meets the cast and crew of Mother Goose in an original take on an old favorite. From his humble beginnings in the home of “a little old woman and a little old man,” the Gingerbread Man leaps into the land of “once upon a time,” and the dangers presented by its hungry citizens. The tasty treat looks tempting to Humpty Dumpty, who is so hungry that he almost tumbled from his wall. Little Boy Blue wakes up wanting breakfast, while the frazzled Little Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe is wondering what to feed her children. Meanwhile, Little Miss Muffet is thinking that the Gingerbread Man would make the perfect end to her meal of curds and whey. But he manages to escape them all. As always, though, the Gingerbread Man meets his match (and his demise) in the sly fox who carries him across the river. Throughout it all, he utters his famous refrain, while underneath it the characters he has already escaped give chase. Readers will find something new with each look at the wonderfully detailed drawings. A round window in every other page previews the cookie’s next encounter and—a turn of the page later—offers a look back at the last character he escaped. This is a great way to reconnect children with familiar favorites in a fresh new setting . . . and parents with their children, as they use the recipe following the story to make their own gingerbread men. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 25, 2002
ISBN: 0-618-18822-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walter Lorraine/Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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