De Las Casas dresses up a classic story with some fun regional flair. In her Cajun variant of “The Gingerbread Boy,” an old woman cooks up some spicy cornbread in a magic skillet and gives it chilies for eyes, a peppercorn nose and a link of Cajun sausage for a mouth. When the cornbread is finished cooking, Cajun Cornbread Boy hops out of the pan and runs away, singing a catchy refrain: “Run, chère, run, as fast as you can! / You can’t catch me—I’m full of cayenne.” He meets and outruns a raccoon and a fox before encountering a crafty gator who pretends to give Cajun Cornbread Boy a ride across the bayou only to try to eat him up. But it is the gator who gets the surprise in this tale—a mouthful of cornbread much too spicy to swallow. Cajun Cornbread Boy lives to sing another day. While Gentry’s muted, earth-toned illustrations are serviceable, they add little to the tale; the butter pats perpetually melting on Cajun Cornbread Boy’s cheeks are a particularly odd touch. A story best memorized and shared over some warm cornbread—recipe included. (glossary, author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)
