Winter is upon us, and cozy days spent relaxing at home are sure to be on everyone's mind. While you’re curled up with a hot beverage, and snuggled up in your comfiest clothes, a gingerbread-themed book – along with a few delicious cookies – sure would hit the spot, wouldn’t they? Come on over to our Children’s Department and pick up one or two of these scrumptious books to keep you warm!
The Gingerbread Baby, The Gingerbread Friends, and Gingerbread Christmas (The Gingerbread trilogy) by Jan Brett (PreK-2nd grade)
PICTURE BRETT
Jan Brett is a master illustrator, and her reimaginings of traditional folktales are always excellent. Arguably, her most popular stories are the books in her Gingerbread trilogy, where Matti, a little boy, and his friend, the Gingerbread Baby, enjoy many charming adventures!
Catch That Cookie by Hallie Durand (Kinder-2nd grade)
PICTURE DURAND
Marshall has read all the stories about runaway gingerbread men, but he knows the truth – those books are fiction. Cookies can’t really run! But after Marshall’s class makes gingerbread cookies, the delicious treats disappear right out of the oven! Where could they have gone? Can Marshall help his class follow the clues and track down those naughty snacks?
The Gingerbread Boy by Richard Egielski (Kinder-3rd grade)
J398.20973 EGIELSKI
Egielski takes the traditional story of the gingerbread man and gives it a local setting. This tricky cookie runs all around New York City while trying to escape construction workers, street musicians, a fox from Central Park Zoo, and others!
The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst (PreK-2nd grade)
PICTURE ERNST
Gingerbread Girl is determined to have her fun but escape the fate of her older brother (the original gingerbread cookie), and this time it will be the fox who is defeated by this cute cookie! Want more? The adventures continue in The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers.
B. Bear & Lolly: Catch That Cookie by A. A. Livingston (PreK-Kindergarten)
PICTURE LIVINGSTON
Best friends B. Bear & Lolly are avid inventors, and their latest project, a Porridge Perfector, is sure to be their most amazing creation yet! Unfortunately, the Gingerbread Man wrecks their machine. Lolly and Bear are out for revenge! If you’ve enjoyed this story, you might want to track down the first story featuring this adorable duo: B. Bear & Lolly: Off to School.
The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray (PreK-2nd grade)
PICTURE MURRAY
Oh, how the tables have turned! In this popular story, the Gingerbread Man is not the one being chased, he’s the one doing the chasing! The class of children who made him have left him behind. Where have they gone? Young readers will adore this tale, and are sure to ask for more, which makes it convenient that this little cookie has other excursions, including running loose on a fire truck, at the zoo, with a leprechaun, and running around at Christmas time. Hooray!
Hansel and Gretel retold by Rika Lesser (2nd-4th grade)
398.2 GRIMM (RETOLD LESSER)
Some readers like a little suspense with their stories, and if that’s what you’re looking for, you might consider a retelling of the Hansel and Gretel story, where the devious wicked witch leads children astray with her gingerbread house. The illustrations on this particular version netted artist Paul O. Zelinsky a Caldecott Honor Award in 1985.
Gingerbread for Liberty by Mara Rockliff (1st-4th grade)
BIOGRAPHY LUDWICK R
Are you interested in some non-fiction to add a little spice to your sweet treats? This book tells the true story of a German immigrant living in Philadelphia, who volunteered his time and culinary skills to feed Continental soldiers, and even baked for soldiers in the opposing army, in an effort to sweeten their perspective and sway them towards liberty’s cause!
Can’t Catch Me by John and Ann Hassett (PreK-2nd grade)
PICTURE HASSETT
This story, instead of starring a runaway gingerbread cookie, features an ice cube that runs away to the sea! If you’re looking for other stories that take the Gingerbread Man idea and add a unique spin, you could also check out The Runaway Tortilla, a Southwestern version by Eric A. Kimmel (398.2 KIMMEL), The Matzo Ball Boy, a Passover story by Lisa Shulman (PICTURE SHULMAN), and The Cajun Cornbread Boy (a Cajun tale by Dianne de Las Casas, PICTURE DE LAS CASAS), just to name a few.