This is a cute retelling of The Gingerbread Boy using cowboys as a theme. My two-year-old grandson enjoyed the pictures and the story itself very much. ( )

“The Gingerbread Cowboy” is a retelling of the classic tale “The Gingerbread Man” with a western twist to it. An older woman in a small village is known for making biscuits but one day she tries something different, she makes a gingerbread cowboy. The gingerbread cowboy comes to life and he gets himself into a bunch of trouble, just like the classic gingerbread man. I love this book for an array of reasons. What I love the most about this text is how the author tells a classic tale with such a nice western twist to it. I felt that the author did a wonderful job adding in aspects of western culture into the text and did not stray away from the traditional story of “The Gingerbread Man.” For example, the gingerbread cowboy runs into trouble with animals that would most commonly be found in the deserted mid-west (road runners, lizards, and long-horned cattle). I also really appreciated the repetition of the text. The gingerbread cowboy continuously says, “giddy up, giddy up, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man.” I also appreciated the use of similes to add to the imagery of the text and to help make reader-to-text connections. “Yes, those breakfast biscuits were plump as pillows, soft as clouds, and tasty as a big Texas barbecue.” ( )

Summary: The Gingerbread Cowboy is the story of a rancher and his wife. The wife always made biscuits. However, one day she decided she wanted to make gingerbread dough. She made the dough into a cowboy. She gave him eyes and a mouth. As the rancher goes to the oven to take a peek of the “biscuits” out jumps the gingerbread cowboy. The rancher and his wife tried to catch the gingerbread man but he just ran as fast as he could. Then, he ran into a roadrunner the road runner said I was going to have a lizard for breakfast but I think I’ll eat you instead. However, the gingerbread man ran as fast as he could again. He ran from every obstacle he faced. Then, he came to a coyote. The coyote told the gingerbread man that there is a river and he will help him across, the gingerbread man hopped on his back. At the end of the river, everyone who was chasing him was there. The rancher’s wife through her rope trying to catch him. The coyote helped him again. The gingerbread man says HA! She missed. The coyote then states, “I wont!” The coyote swallowed him. At the end, the rancher, the rancher’s wife and the coyote are making more gingerbread men together.

Self Reflection: I thought this was a very cute story. I think it showed how everyone can work together to accomplish something. I think the pictures in this story have very good detail.

Classroom Extension: This would be a good story to use when learning about how to work together as a group. This would also be a good story to use to learn about facing obstacles in life and how to never give up. The gingerbread man never gave up he just kept running. The rancher’s wife didn’t give up cooking just because she had one obstacle.

A fun retelling of the Gingerbread Man with a Western setting and characters. It's a faithful retelling (yes, the Gingerbread Cowboy gets eaten) but the refrain becomes "Giddyup, giddyup as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man." Other cowboy style phrases are sprinkled throughout ("Now, the Gingerbread Cowboy was feeling might pleased with himself.") making this a fun read-aloud. The kids I read it to, seemed to like that they knew the story, but that this was a twist on it. The Gingerbread Cowboy getting eaten at the end didn't bother them one bit. Holly Berry's full-bleed illustrations are heavy on yellows and browns as befits the desert settings and I think they're done in colored pencil, but there's no illustration note to confirm that. While this is definitely a fun choice for storytimes, I wouldn't use it kids younger than Kindergarten because of the length. Knowledge of the original Gingerbread Man story will enhance enjoyment of the story, but is not necessary.

Used for July 2009 Western Themed Tons of Fun program for 2nd and 3rd graders. ( )

The ranchers wife was tired of making biscuits so she made gingerbread and created a gingerbread cowboy. He ran away from the ranchers, her ran away from the road runner, he ran away from the javelinas, and kept of running away until he met a fox and then....read the book for more. A great childrens book. ( )