On the day before we left for the holiday break, I brought along The Gingerbread Bear, author Robert Dennis' amusing new spin on the old tale, to read to my second grade reading intervention class. As our tale begins, in a small stone cottage tucked way in the middle of Woodlands National Park, we meet a little girl and her mom who are busy in their kitchen. The mom tells her daughter that she's going to make a very special cookie just for her, a gingerbread bear. As she places the bear into the oven, the little girl's mother warns her that once the buzzer goes off on the timer, she should NOT open the door. As she sits by the over, the sweet aroma of the spices from the gingerbread quickly surround her, and despite her mother's warning, curiosity overtakes her. She slowly opens the door. To her great surprise, the little gingerbread bear jumps out and takes off running towards the woods, all the while, playfully taunting back at the little girl with the familiar phrase,
"Run, run, try if you dare. You can't catch me. I'm the Gingerbread Bear!"
As I read this story out loud on a cold Friday morning, much to my complete delight, my second graders were captivated by this new version of the classic holiday tale. The repetition kept them fully engaged with the story, as they excitedly repeated the little bear's catchy phrase as he tries to out run the little girl, her mother, a group of campers, a wily chipmunk, a famished wolf until he ultimately....well, I'm not going to give it away! :)
The Gingerbread Bear
Written by Robert Dennis & Illustrated by Tammie Lyon
Publisher: Cartwheel Books, an imprint of Scholastic, Inc.
Website: www.scholastic.com
For ages 4 thru 8
Retails for $4.99
ISBN: 978-0-545-48966-9
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