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The Gingerbread Boy
as Retold by Dr. Mike Lockett, The Normal Storyteller

     Once upon a time, there lived a little old man and a little old woman.  They lived by themselves and had no little boys or girls to call their own.  Without children, they became very lonely.

     One beautiful day, the little old woman made a little Gingerbread Boy.  She used raisins to make his eyes, a small piece of sugar candy for his nose, and a mouth out of red liquorice. She made him a jacket out of chocolate and put sweet dried red currents on it for buttons.  His pants were made from brown frosting.  His shoes were made out of black gum drops.  Then the little old woman put him into the oven to bake.

     My, how the house smelled so delicious.  The old man had been working outside while the old woman had been making the Gingerbread Boy and came inside to find out what smelled so good.  The old couple had been looking forward to a good dessert when something strange happened.  They were both looking in the direction of the oven when it began to shake and bounce up and down.

     A voice from the inside began to say, "Let me out! Let me out!"

     The old man stepped back and stared as the old woman took a potholder and carefully opened the oven door.  Out popped the Little Gingerbread Boy - alive and standing before them.  The little old woman picked him up and stood him on the table and said joyfully, "I finally have a little boy of my own."

     The old man was partly happy but partly sad also - he had been looking forward to a good dessert. But parents can't eat their kids - not even when they are bad!  "Isn't he handsome?" asked the little old woman.

     "Yes, and he smells good too," said the little old man, still thinking how hungry he was. "Are you sure he's related to us," asked the little old man.

     But, before either one could say another word, the little Gingerbread Boy jumped off the table and ran out the open door.  The little old man had forgotten to close it when he came in the house.  The little old man and the little old woman ran after him shouting, "Stop, little Gingerbread Boy. Please stop!"

The Gingerbread Boy did not stop, however. He kept running and said, "Run, run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me. I'm the Gingerbread Man."  And they couldn't catch the Gingerbread Boy. On and on ran the Little Gingerbread Boy until he passed by the big brown cow that was grazing in the field. "Stop, stop." called the big brown cow.  "You smell good enough to eat!"

     The Little Gingerbread Boy did not stop for the big brown cow. Instead, he laughed and said, "I ran away from the little old man and the little old woman, and I can run away from you I can." Then off he went down the road shouting, "Run, run, run as fast as you can.  You can't catch me.  I'm the Gingerbread Man.  And the big brown cow couldn't catch him.

     On and on ran the Little Gingerbread Boy until he passed by a group of men who were threshing wheat by the roadside.  "Stop, stop!" called the thresher men.  "You smell good enough to eat!"

The Little Gingerbread Boy did not stop for the thresher men. Instead, he laughed and said, "I ran away from the little old man and the little old woman, I ran away from the big brown cow, and I can run away from you I can." Then, off he went down the road shouting,  "Run, run, run as fast as you can.  You can?t catch me.  I?m the Gingerbread Man." And, though the thresher men ran very fast, they couldn't catch the Gingerbread Boy.

     On and on ran the Little Gingerbread Boy until he passed by the big black horse who was eating hay from a bale that had been dropped by the roadside.  "Stop, stop!" called the big black horse.  "You smell good enough to eat!"  The Little Gingerbread Boy did not stop for the big black horse. Instead, he laughed and said, "I ran away from the little old man and the little old woman, I ran away from the big brown cow, I ran away from the thresher men and I can run away from you I can."

     Then, off he went down the road shouting, "Run, run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me.  the Gingerbread Man."  And though the big black horse galloped very fast, it couldn't catch him.  On and on ran the Little Gingerbread Boy until he passed by a fox that was crossing the nearby field.  The fox looked at the Gingerbread Boy, but he didn't say anything.

     "Don't you want to chase me?" asked the Gingerbread Boy.  "I ran away from the little old man and the little old woman, I ran away from the big brown cow, I ran away from the thresher men and I can run away from you I can."  And he got ready to run some more.

     But the fox just kept walking slowly. "I don't want to catch you," said the fox. Just at that time, the Gingerbread Boy reached the river.  He had to quit running.  He couldn't get into the water since that would be like dipping a cookie into milk.   He would crumble.  When the Gingerbread Boy looked around, he saw the Little Old Man and the Little Old Woman, the Big Brown Cow, the Thresher Men and the Big Black Horse still running.  Only now, they were catching up.

     "Not to bother you," said Mr. Fox, as he came closer. "But, do you need to get across the river?  If so, jump on my tail so your feet don't get wet."

     Not having a better offer, the Gingerbread Boy climbed onto the Fox's tale as the Fox started swimming across the lake.  After a little while, the Fox said, "You're getting heavy on my tale, and I don't want you to get wet, Gingerbread Boy. Just move onto my back."

     The Gingerbread Boy moved just in time as the Fox's tale dipped into the river.  A few minutes later, the Fox said,  "The fur on my back is getting wet.  You'd better move up to my shoulders." So, the little Gingerbread Boy moved up to the Fox's shoulders.

     "I'm afraid my shoulders are sinking," said the Fox moments later.  Climb onto my nose.  We're almost at the other bank."  The Gingerbread Boy was looking at the dry land that was approaching and climbed onto the Fox's nose.  Just as the Fox stepped onto solid land, he tossed his head backwards and snapped his jaws shut around the middle of the Gingerbread Boy.  And that was the end of the Gingerbread Boy.

Note: For more about the Gingerbread Boy - click on the following link: http://www.kindergartentreehouse.com/gingerbread.htm

A classroom teacher placed the link on her site.  The link has several wonderful units on it for elementary teachers to use.