Gingerbread is a great topic for teaching during the month of December because it is not holiday-specific and it’s something that all of your students can enjoy. In addition, many of your students’ families will bake gingerbread cookies, decorate gingerbread houses or read gingerbread man books during this festive month. This list of gingerbread man books will help you tie in this joyful theme in a fun and academic way.
There are tons of different gingerbread stories out there. This lends itself to a compare and contrast lesson or unit using a variety of gingerbread books. Some of my favorites are The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst, Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett, and How to Catch a Gingerbread Man by Adam Wallace. Check out the full list of gingerbread man books below and be sure to grab the gingerbread activities that go with them!
5 Gingerbread Man Books
Below are some of my favorite gingerbread man books to share with elementary students. Your students are going to love these stories! You can get activities that go with all of them in the resource below!
The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst
After the escape of the Gingerbread Boy, the lonely old woman and the lonely old man decide to bake a gingerbread girl in the book The Gingerbread Girl. As soon as the old woman opened the oven, the Gingerbread Girl runs out the door. While running, she encounters a group of hungry farmers, a pig, an artist, a cow and her calf, a dog walker and his dogs, and a group of children at school, and they all want to eat her! With everyone close behind her, the Gingerbread Girl finally encounters the fox who ate her brother. She manages to outsmart the fox and bring everyone back to the home of the lonely old woman and the lonely old man. Finally, they have company and they can all bake cookies together! Check out these The Gingerbread Girl activities!
The Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires
Once upon a time in the Wild west, there lived a rancher and his wife in the story The Gingerbread Cowboy. The wife would make biscuits every morning, but one day she decided to bake a gingerbread cowboy instead. She used raisins, candies, and nuts to make the eyes, mouth, and a cowboy hat. But, as soon as the rancher opened the oven to see what was making that wonderful smell, the Gingerbread Cowboy escaped and ran out the door!
While running, the Gingerbread Cowboy encountered a horned lizard, a roadrunner, a group of javelinas, a herd of cattle, and some hungry cowboys, who he all managed to escape from. Then, he came across a coyote napping in the sun. Confident from his past successes, the Gingerbread Cowboy jumped onto the coyote to get away from the rest of the creatures still chasing him. What he didn’t know was that the coyote had some tricks up his sleeve! Check out these The Gingerbread Cowboy activities!
Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup
On Christmas Eve, Jim and his mother are making pirate cookies in the book Gingerbread Pirates. Jim brings his favorite cookie, who he calls Captain Cookie, close by his bed when he goes to sleep because he is too good to be eaten. When Jim falls asleep, Captain Cookie gets up to rescue his pirate crew from being eaten by Santa Claus! On his journey, Captain Cookie learns a little bit about what Christmas is, and finally he finds himself transformed into something a bit more permanent. Students will love this action-packed story about a pirate captain who rescues his crew from a gingerbread-loving Santa Claus! Check out these The Gingerbread Pirates activities!
Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett
In Jan Brett’s Gingerbread Baby, a young boy named Matti is baking a gingerbread boy with his mother. Matti is so excited that he opens the oven too early and out jumps a gingerbread baby! Matti’s mother and father start to chase after the Gingerbread Baby. Soon, the whole village is trying to catch the Gingerbread Baby. Meanwhile, Matti is at home baking again.
The Gingerbread Baby runs through the village into a clearing where he sees a gingerbread house just his size. He runs inside the house and when everyone catches up, the Gingerbread Baby has disappeared. When Matti’s parents return home to tell him they couldn’t catch the cookie, Matti is a holding the gingerbread house and the Gingerbread Baby is happy living inside. Like all of the books on this list, I liked this book so much that I added it to my Starts With a Story collection! Check out these Gingerbread Baby activities!
How to Catch a Gingerbread Man by Adam Wallace
During a story time reading of The Gingerbread Man, the famous book character magically comes to life, leaps from the pages and begins his adventure! As the Gingerbread Man runs loose in a bookstore, he gets help from other well-known characters like Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes, Peter Rabbit, nursery rhyme characters, and more! Will the children be able to catch him with their clever traps or will he escape for good? This fun, action-packed book makes for a very engaging read aloud! Check out these How to Catch a Gingerbread Man activities!
Gingerbread Man Reading Activities
These gingerbread man books are great read alouds to share with elementary students during the month of December. Students will be engaged and learning during a time of year when that can be challenging! Check out these gingerbread man books from your local or school library or find videos of them being read aloud on Youtube. It’s easy to access them for free using one of these avenues. Be sure to also check out the read aloud activities that go with these books!
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