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This book teaches great lessons about doing chores, helping out around the house or classroom, and being responsible. This would be a great way to introduce class rules or character education.
level: J
This book teaches great lessons about doing chores, helping out around the house or classroom, and being responsible. This would be a great way to introduce class rules or character education.
level: J
Genre: Food / Fairy Tale / Retelling / Trickery
Year Published: 1975
Year Read: 2017
Publisher: Clarion Books
Now, as long as I could remember, I have always heard the stories about everyone’s favorite trouble making food product the “Gingerbread Man” and I had read a couple of children’s books in the past that detailed the Gingerbread Man’s adventures (although it has been years since I had last read a “Gingerbread Man” book). So, when I found out that Paul Galdone had written his own interpretation of the Gingerbread Man story called “The Gingerbread Boy,” I was a bit surprised to see this edition pop up and I had to check it out!
The story starts off with a little old woman and a little old man not having any children of their own and they decided to make a Gingerbread Boy to make up for it. When the old woman put the Gingerbread boy in the oven, she went off to go do some chores in the house and it was then that she forgot about the Gingerbread Boy and the oven started to burn. When the old woman quickly went to open the oven, out jumped the Gingerbread Boy and he ended up running out of the house! This then causes an escalating adventure for the Gingerbread Boy as he runs away from both the old woman and the old man and most of the villagers, while shouting out:
“Run! Run! Run!
Catch me if you can!
You can’t catch me!
I’m the Gingerbread Boy,
I am! I am!”
After the Gingerbread Boy outruns everyone in the village, he meets up with a fox and…
Will the fox catch the Gingerbread Boy?
Read this book to find out!
Paul Galdone’s retelling of the “Gingerbread Man” was quite unique and cute to read as I rarely come across many “Gingerbread Man” interpretations where the titular Gingerbread Man is portrayed as a boy (even though there were no hints about the Gingerbread being a boy other than being called a boy). I also enjoyed the scenes where the Gingerbread Boy ran away from various characters who want to eat him up as it was amusing that the Gingerbread Boy came up with this rhyme to brag about how he can evade any of his pursuers and I found myself repeating the rhymes whenever the Gingerbread Boy escapes from his pursuers. Paul Galdone’s artwork was fun to look at as all the characters and settings look scratchy as it has an old fashioned feel that made the story great to read through. I also loved the images of the Gingerbread Boy itself as it truly looks like a baked gingerbread cookie that happens to come to life and run across the pages in happy glee!
The reason why I gave this book a four star rating was because I felt that the Gingerbread Boy’s taunting verses:
“Run! Run! Run!
Catch me if you can!
You can’t catch me!
I’m the Gingerbread Boy,
I am! I am!”
Had started to get a bit tedious after a while, especially since we keep seeing these same verses pop up on every page every time the Gingerbread Boy runs away from his pursuers. While young children will get enjoyment out of repeating this verse every time the Gingerbread Boy escapes his pursuers, some older readers might find the constant repeatings of this verse to be a bit of a hassle to read through over and over again.
Overall, “The Gingerbread Boy” is a cute book for anyone who is a huge fan of the “Gingerbread Man” stories. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the ending of this book might disturb some smaller children.
Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
| Anatole is a mouse who goes into the human world at night to find food for his family. One night he overhears what humans think about mice and decides he will help instead of being a freeloader. He goes to the cheese factory and rates their cheeses, leaving notes on how to improve them. The cheese factory increases its sales. Anatole remains anonymous. I enjoyed this story. It is fun. I like Anatole's solution and his comments on the cheese. I think the Disney movie, Ratatouille, is somewhat based on this book. The kids will enjoy it |
Genre: Horror / Monsters / Pets / Revenge / Suspense
Year Published: 1977
Year Read: 2016
Publisher: Clarion Books
I have read many horror children’s books that deal with monsters, witches and ghosts, but I had never read any children’s books or folklore books for that matter that deal with the Tailypo before. So when I picked up Joanna Galdone’s retelling of the Tailypo story called “The Tailypo: A Ghost Story,” along with artwork by her father Paul Galdone, I was pleasantly surprised by how creepy this story came out!
The story starts off with an old man taking his three dogs (Uno, Ino and Cumptico-Calico) out hunting and they managed to capture a rabbit, which the old man ate for dinner. Suddenly, the old man spots an odd creature coming in through the cracks between the logs in the wall and he notices that the creature has an extremely long tail. The old man then took his hatchet and chopped the creature’s tail off as the creature escaped from the house. The old man then took the tail and ended up eating it for supper and went to bed in a satisfied state. However in the middle of the night, the old man started hearing strange sounds inside the cabin and it was then that he heard a mysterious creature say to him:
“Tailypo, tailypo,
All I want is my tailypo.”
The old man then sent his three dogs out to chase the creature away and after that, he went back to bed. But then he heard the creature say again:
“Tailypo, tailypo,
I’m coming get my tailypo!”
Will the creature get its tail back and what will happen to the old man?
Read this book to find out!
Joanna Galdone has done a great job at retelling this ancient ghost story about a creature trying to get its tail back after an old man ended up eating the creature’s tail. I will admit that this is the very first book that I had read that was written by Joanna Galdone, who is the daughter of Paul Galdone, whose books I am well acquainted to, and for a first book, it is a really solid story that I would not mind reading again. I loved the way that Joanna Galdone made the story atmospheric and haunting in tone as I was literally on the edge of my seat wondering if the creature will get the old man for eating its tail as I wonder how that horrific situation would be resolved in a children’s book. Paul Galdone’s artwork is truly beautiful and haunting to look at as the creature is shown as being a black cat like figure that has a long bushy tail and is constantly shown disappearing throughout the pages, not allowing the readers to really see what its true form really is, which brings so much mystery and terror to the story. I also loved the fact that the colors on the artwork are dark and a bit faded as it gives a creepy vibe to the story.
The reason why I gave this book a four star rating was because I felt that the characters were a bit too flat and even though the story itself was pretty interesting, I found myself not really caring about any of the characters except for the creature looking for its tail, since they were not developed enough for me to be interested in how they deal with this scary situation of an unknown creature sneaking into their home.
Overall, “The Tailypo: A Ghost Story” is a great horror story that fans of ghost stories will enjoy and I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the tailypo creature might scare some children.
Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
