The Gingerbread Man

Title: The Gingerbread Man

Author: Jim Aylesworth

Illustrator: Barbara McClintock

Genre: Traditional Literature

Awards: None

Age Group: Pre-K–2nd 

The Gingerbread Man goes through the classic story that is beloved by so many children. When a gingerbread man cookie suddenly springs out of the oven of an elderly couple, he makes a dash throughout the town, dodging a butcher, cow, and sow, taunting them all the while. He met his demise when he is outsmarted by a clever fox, who eats him up. 
I will definitely use this book in my classroom as it gives the perfect opportunity to sing along to the gingerbread man's teasing chant which I always think is fun. Plus, it is a fun story with excellent illustrations and it offers a several good lessons about trusting others, being cocky, and bragging.
This book is perfect for a younger audience due to the repetition and musicality of it as a read aloud. I would say anywhere from Pre-K (if not younger) to 2nd grade is perfect! Even still, my 14-year-old sister let me read it aloud to her and she was perfectly content to take a trip down memory lane (or at least I'd like to think she was)...haha! The storyline is super simple and easy to follow for young kids.
I saw an excellent idea for an anchor chart for this book which was to have the class come up with different ideas about what the central message of this story is. There are so many lessons that we can take from the sad fate of the gingerbread man. A way to add some fun into the classroom would be to bring in some gingerbread man cookies and allow the students to decorate them. A good activity to do with younger students would be to have them describe the cookie in relation to their five senses (ex: My gingerbread man looks __.). Lastly, this story would also go perfectly with a sequencing activity to go over what happens first, next, and last in a story. For example, first, the gingerbread man escapes from the little old man and woman. Next, he escapes from the butcher. This could go on until lastly, the fox eats the gingerbread man.