Genre 2 Traditional Literature

The Gingerbread Man

 

Bibliography

Kimmel, Eric A. 1993. THE GINGERBREAD MAN. Ill. by Megan LLoyd. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 0823408248

Summary 

Eric Kimmel retells this well known fairy tale with accompanying colorful artwork which gives young children a clear picture of the story. An old man and an old woman bake and decorate a gingerbread man. After they finish, the gingerbread man runs away and the couple and many animals try to catch him. The gingerbread man repeatedly tells in a rhythmical rhyme to each animal that he cannot be caught. Lloyd's drawings share that as the dog, cow, horse, and sow, unsuccessfully chase him. All of that changes when the gingerbread man meets the fox who uses trickery rather than a chase. Kimmel inserts a cheery ending with the thoughts that the gingerbread man may return when another pan of gingerbread men is made.

Critical Analysis
This cumulative tale is portrayed not only in the retelling by Kimmel, but in the magnificent drawings by Megan Lloyd. The artwork fills entire pages to become a part of the story telling. The setting and the lines depicting movement of the animals, the gingerbread man, and the couple help the reader imagine the chase on the farm. The rhyme and rhythm of the gingerbread man's jingle sticks with children as they hear it each time a new animal joins the chase. "I'll run and run as fast as I can. You can't catch me. I'm the gingerbread man!" What could be a sad ending is not, as Kimmel and Lloyd supply a happy ending reminding children that the gingerbread man may return when another pan of gingerbread is made.

Review Excerpts

School Library Journal - "Lloyd's illustrations work in tandem with the text to create verve and motion while maintaining a "fresh-from-the-oven" appeal. Her engaging art works beautifully with Kimmel's retelling to keep both eye and action moving across each page, thus enhancing the story's pace."

Connections

Make a pan of gingerbread men and have children help decorate them. 

Students sequence events in story. They may draw the various animals who join the chase, mix them, and then sequence properly.

Students role play parts using masks.

Read other versions of the story to compare the characters, setting, plot, etc.

The Gingerbread Cowboy ISBN 9780060778637 

The Gingerbread Pirates ISBN 978-0060778637 

The Library Gingerbread Man ISBN 9781602130487

The Three Pigs 

Bibliography

Wiesner, David. 2001. The Three Pigs. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN 0618007016

Summary 

The story begins like the traditional Three Little Pigs, but when the wolf blows the house, he blows the pig right out of the colorful story frame. The other two pigs also escape and they all ride on a paper airplane made from a page of the book to fairy tales where they are joined by the cat from "Hey, Diddle Diddle" and the dragon they rescue. As the pigs escape through a library of stories, they finally end up back home and even the words and letters of the page are discombobulated. Do not fear, though, the pigs live happily ever after at home with the dragon and the cat with its fiddle. The wit of Wiesner in creating this clever story and beautiful drawings will be loved by young and old alike. The pigs' expressive eyes and the ever changing details in the story provide a book which will be read again and again.

Critical Analysis 

The story line of The Three Pigs provides the typical good and bad characters, but the story line takes a new twist when the pigs escape the wolf and their original story for other tales with a color and look of their own.  Wiesner’s cleverness in having the pages come alive and out of the story for the characters to hide under and ride on enables the readers to expand their imagination and by doing so unlocks the reader’s mental framework. The theme is no longer about laziness or work ethic. The color and picture style changes each time the pigs enter a new tale. The pigs, themselves, morph into a new look which matches the tale. Rather than traditional narration, the pigs have speech balloons and seem to come out of the story giving a feeling that they are real. Wiesner also utilizes absence by having blank pages which provide readers opportunities to imagine and predict where the pigs are going after their paper airplane crashes. Wiesner, a Caldecott Medal winner, provides a delightful story with artwork which is as clever as it is brilliant.

Review Excerpts

The Horn Book Review - "Obviously there’s a lot going on here, but once you get your bearings, this is a fantastic journey told with a light touch."

The Horn Book Magazine - "Wiesner’s marvelously comical and just plain beautiful book demonstrates how far a good old story can take an artist inspired by its essential spirit." 

Kirkus Reviews - Starred "With this inventive retelling, Caldecott Medalist Wiesner (Tuesday, 1991) plays with literary conventions in a manner not seen since Scieszka's The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (1993)."

The New York Times - “Wiesner’s dialogue and illustrations are clever, whimsical and sophisticated.”

School Library Journal - “Witty dialogue and physical comedy abound in this inspired retelling of a familiar favorite.”
  

Connections 

Read other versions of The Three Little Pigs. Compare and contrast with Wiesner's book.

Read The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig ISBN 9780689815287. Discuss characters.

Read Eric A. Kimmel's The Three Tamales. ISBN 9780761455196. Compare and Contrast.

Read (and and talk about) all three of Wiesner's Caldecott Medal books:

• The Three Pigs 
• Flotsom ISBN 9780618194575
• Tuesday ISBN 9780395870822

Collaborate to write a creative ending for The Three Little Pigs or other traditional tales.

Awards

Caldecott Medal 2002

The Ugly Duckling

Bibliography

Pinkney, Jerry. 1999. THE UGLY DUCKLING. New York. Morrow Junior Books. ISBN 068815932X

Summary

Jerry Pinkney's adaptation and illustrations of Han Christian Anderson's classic tale brings home the message that never grows old. The words and the watercolor drawings help the reader envision the naturistic surroundings where the duck has a sixth egg which does not look like the others. The duckling is belittled and bullied and never fits in. When spring comes, he sees a flock of beautiful birds doing what he longs to do, floating on the water. He joins them but he still feels insecure due to his ugliness. He still thinks of himself as the ugliest ever, but then he sees his image mirrored in the pond and realizes he had become a beautiful swan. The children who come to the pond say he is the most beautiful of all.

Critical Analysis

This classic provides many sensory images through the words and in the drawings. The ugly duckling goes through many situations which children may be able to identify with. Children may share the feelings of prejudice toward the one who looks differently. By the end of the story, Pinkney gives the moral to stay patient when things seem bad; situations may change and the end result may seem even better having come through the pain and suffering. At first, Pinkney's illustrations may appear to the young reader to be dull and lack a certain colorful vividness even though this is a Caldecott award winning book. As the story continues, however, the reader realizes that the illustrations contribute to the warmth and good feelings of the story. As the illustrations aid the viewer is seeing the transformation of the ugly duckling into a beautiful swan, the readers understand the difficulties and the tribulations that one must go through before their time of glory comes.

Review Excerpts Kirkus Reviews - "Outstanding illustrations and some new characters make Pinkney’s retelling of a familiar tale memorable."

Publishers Weekly - Pinkney's (Rikki-Tikki-Tavi) supple, exquisitely detailed watercolors provide a handsome foil to his graceful adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen classic. 

School Library Journal Book Review Stars -  “the appeal of this tale is as strong today as it was 150 years ago, and Pinkney has done an admirable job of repackaging it for a new generation. "

Connections

Discuss patience.

Read other books with similar themes such as Leo the Late Bloomer ISBN 0-06-443348-X

Use for an attention grabber for lessons about bullying, discrimination, or multi-culturalism.

Randolph Caldecott Medal Honor Book 2000 United States
2X2 Reading List, 2000 - Texas 

The Best Children's Books of the Year, 2000
The Children's Literature Choice List, 2000 

United States Notable Books for Children, 2000