Story Cue Card - The
Gingerbread Boy
Bibliographic Information (best version for telling):
The Gingerbread Boy Illustrated by Scott Cook
Published by Alfred A. Knopf Inc. 1987 New York
Ethnic Origin: English (England)
Running Time: approximately 6 minutes and 46 seconds
Power Center(s): Speed of the gingerbread boy, childhood taunts,
skipping, running, playing, chasing, taste of gingerbread(dessert)
I choose these power centers because these aspects appeal to the child in
me. When I was a child I loved taunting people, I loved to run and ride as fast
as the wind. These power centers are what I think are the essence of childhood.
I choose them to try and convey an overall sense of freedom and care freeness
in the story telling.
Characters:
Little Old Woman, Little Old Man, Little Gingerbread Boy, Cow, Horse,
Barn full of threshers, Field full of mowers, Fox
Scenes:
1. Little
old woman makes gingerbread boy. Gingerbread boy runs away. The little old
woman and little old man chase him.
2. Gingerbread
boy meets a cow and runs away from him. The cow chases him.
3. Gingerbread
boy meets a horse and runs away from him. The horse chases him.
4. Gingerbread
boy meets a barn full of threshers and runs away from them. The threshers chase
him.
5. Gingerbread
boy meets a field full of mowers and runs away from them. The mowers chase him.
6. Gingerbread
boy meets a fox and runs away from him. The fox tricks the Gingerbread boy and
he gets to eat him in the end.
Synopsis: A gingerbread boy runs away from the woman who made him and her
husband. The Gingerbread Boy meets a cow and talks briefly with it and then
runs away from it when it tries to eat him. A horse in a pasture tries to eat
the Gingerbread Boy and does not prove quick enough. The Gingerbread Boy meets
several threshers in a barn. They chase him because of his wonderful smell. He
escapes them. The Gingerbread Boy then meets a field of mowers. They chase him
because he looks delicious. Just when he thinks no one can catch him, he meets
a clever fox. The Gingerbread Boy
continues to run but a river blocks his way. The fox offers to take the
Gingerbread Boy across the river and the Gingerbread Boy agrees. The
Gingerbread Boy trusts the fox and continues to do as the fox says. The fox
asks the Gingerbread Boy to move up from his tail to his back, and then from
his shoulder to his nose. When the fox gets to the other side of the river, he
eats the Gingerbread Boy.
Rhymes/Special Phrases/"Flavors":
"I have run away from a little old woman,
A little old man,
A cow,
A horse,
A barn full of threshers,
A field full of mowers,
And I can run away from you I can!"
"Run! run! as fast
as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!
Audience:
Preschool:
Children
from three to five years old respond to rhythm and repetition; simple, direct
plots in which familiarity is mixed with surprise; short dialogue; clear and
simple images; action that quickly builds to a climax; and a satisfying ending.
Above quote from Ellin Greene's Storytelling
Art & Technique © 1996 p.51
The Gingerbread Boy is an energetic story that can involve audience
participation from children. It also provides the opportunity to cook
gingerbread or to provide sweets to children that are good listeners. This tale
could also involve a gingerbread manhunt, with one lucky child the winner of
the coveted prize.
Bibliographic Information on other versions/variants (at least two)?
The Gingerbread Man Retold by Jim Aylesworth
Scholastic Press © 1998 New York
The Gingerbread Boy by Galdone Clarion Books ©
1975 New York
The Stinky Cheese Man by John Scieszka ??
The Cajun Gingerbread Boy by Berthe Amoss ??
Brief comparison of all versions/variants in terms of language, rhythm,
"tellability," "flavor," content,
etc. Stress the difference in style rather than those of content.
I found many different versions of The Gingerbread Boy Story.
The Gingerbread Boy Story is the similar to the Gingerbread Boy story I
read. The characters and plot all follow the same direction. The style of the
book is more like poetry stanzas than the version I read. The poetry creates
the problem of trying to find the correct rhyming pattern in the words. Telling
this story would require that the stanzas be memorized and retold verbatim. An
inexperienced reader like myself may stumble between transitions when mentally
trying to connect how the last paragraph rhymed with the first. The paragraphs
do not all rhyme. I felt that this distracts me the teller and could possibly
distract listeners.
The Gingerbread Man story is also a different version of the story that I
am reading. I wanted to keep the characters close to the initial telling and
the characters are changed in this version. It has the same stanza like structure
versus a story like structure that has one or two memorable phrases. At the end
the fox pretended he could not hear and I did not find that ending to be
pleasing. The language was a little stilted and proper in the stanzas.
“Once
upon a time there was a little old man and a little old woman. One day, the
little old woman said, “Let’s make a gingerbread man!” “Yes, let’s do!” said
the little old man and they did.
The Gingerbread Man sounds like a
angry child in this version.
“No! No! I won’t come back! I rather run than be
your snack!”
I was unable to physically find variants of this story but I saw many of
the
titles online.
The Cajun Gingerbread Boy by Berthe Amoss ??
From Mary
Clayton Rowen - Children's Literature
This 'rebaked' version of the well-known story is set in
Louisiana. As the Gingerbread Boy attempts his great escape, the reader gets a
feel for the lay of the land as we follow him through swamps and bayous, past
vegetation and wildlife. Interspersed throughout the story, adding further
flavor, are various French words and phrases. A neat aspect is the cardboard
gingerbread boy that fits into slits on each page. The last page includes a
recipe for Cajun Gingerbread Boys.
Above quote from Barnes and Noble http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=The+Cajun+Gingerbread+Boy&userid=196OBWO4G8
This story would be interesting to tell with the dialect. I believe that
I chose correctly for my first story because the language and description are
simple. This story may be one that could be used once my story telling
technique is polished.
The Stinky Cheese Man by John Scieszka ??
But
"The Stinky Cheese Man" isn't a book for
little ones. It will take
older children (that's teens along with 10s) to follow the disordered story
lines and appreciate the narrative's dry wit,
wordplay, and wacky, sophomoric
jokes.
Above
quote from Barnes and Noble http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=15D9WCO4EJ&mscssid=TPS60CKAMWHF9M3HA0C8L1MJUWKTFD51&isbn=067084487X
There
are also story versions /variants in which the boy is a different substance. In
some versions he is a fleeing pancake, or a Johnnycake. The versions and
variants also contain different animals that get to eat him. In one version a
pig takes him across the river.
Overall,
I enjoy the cleverness of the fox and the taste of gingerbread boys. I felt
like this story was the best of all of the tales so I am sticking with it.