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Gingerbread Jamboree Storytime!

Last week we baked some cookies, but left a special kind of cookie for a storytime of its own: Gingerbread!

Look up this week's tag: #gingerbreadjam for some great gingerbread stories. If you’re looking for some holiday jamboree to cover some of the great family traditions in our reading program, search #holidayjamboree. If you haven't signed up yet, there's still time!

This week we’ll highlight a few must read gingerbread books, including:

The Gingerbread Man, retold by Jim Aylesworth: In this irresistible retelling, the Gingerbread Man taunts a crowd of hungry cookie lovers. Children will enjoy chiming in with Aylesworth's charming, rollicking refrains, accompanied by whimsical animal images -- plus a delicious recipe for gingerbread men!

Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett: Confident and cocky, the Gingerbread Baby happens upon a bakery, where he dances and prances in front of a sugar cookie girl, trying to make friends. But she just stares and doesn't say a word, like all the other sweet treats he tries to meet.
Discouraged, the Gingerbread Baby runs home, chased by a long line of hungry creatures 

Tough Cookie by Edward Hemingway: Once upon a time, while Fox was visiting the land of Holiday Treats, a little cookie—still warm from the bakery oven—burst out the front door looking sweet and ready to be devoured. But, as it turns out, Cookie is not as fast as he thinks and when Fox finally catches him, they’re both in for a big surprise: Sugar Cookie does not taste delicious—and he’s certainly not fit to be eaten. What’s an unsavory cookie to do? Is there another option for this not-so-sweet treat? This inventive story celebrates the joy of being accepted for who we are.

The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst: The lonely old woman and the lonely old man decide to bake a girl this time, but when they open the oven, she runs off like her brother did. Never fear, this smart cookie has a plan to outfox the fox. Will it work? Let's just say that the ending is sweet for everyone.

The Gingerbread Man Loose at the Zoo by Laura Murray Is there anything more fun than a class trip to the zoo? The Gingerbread Man and his classmates don’t think so, and they get to solve riddles on a WILD scavenger hunt. They meet giraffes, monkeys, and even a fox (especially scary for a Gingerbread Man!).  
But a zoo full of critters is a tricky place for a tasty cookie—even a very fast one—and the Gingerbread Man ends up separated from his friends. He needs to solve all of the riddles to catch up with his class and help someone else who is lost.

The Ninjabread Man by C.J. Leigh "Try, try, as best as you can, you can't beat me, I'm the Ninjabread Man!" In this fun spinoff of the classic "Gingerbread Man" story, Sensei makes an age-old recipe for ninjabread. But the cookie escapes from the oven and runs loose! Can the Ninjabread Man trick Ninja Bear, Ninja Snake, Ninja Mouse, and Ninja Fox?

Don't forget to download this week's Gingerbread coloring page! And here are some great Gingerbread songs for your week. 


Watch Me Run 
Sung to: "Jingle Bells"

Watch me run, watch me run
All around the room.
I'm the little Gingerbread Kid.
See me zoom, zoom, zoom,
Running here, running there,
Running fast and slow.
I'm the little Gingerbread Kid.


Five Gingerbread Men

Five little gingerbread men in a row (Hold up five fingers, waving back & forth)
Not gonna' eat one no, no, no. (shake finger and head side to side)
But they look so sweet from head to toe (hand binoculars at eyes touch head then toes)
Crunch, munch...uh oh! (slap thighs on crunch, clap hands on munch, then put hands over mouth on uh oh)
Continue until...

No little gingerbread men in a row
Wasn't gonna' eat one, no, no, no
But they looked so sweet that it's sad to tell (binoculars on sweet, then
index fingers run down cheeks to represent tears on sad)
Crunch.. munch... oh well! (slap thighs once, clap once, then throw hands up
and shrug shoulders)

5 Little Gingerbread Men
5 Little gingerbread men on the tray,
(place 5 fingers of one hand onto the open palm of the other hand--the tray.)
One jumped up and ran away.
("run" one finger away)
Catch me, Oh catch me, Oh catch me if you can!
I'm pretty fast, I am the gingerbread man!

4 Little gingerbread men on the tray,
(4 fingers on the tray....etc.)
One jumped up and ran away.
Catch me, Oh catch me, Oh catch me if you can!
I'm pretty fast, I am the gingerbread man!

Continue to zero...

No little gingerbread men on the tray
I will have to bake more on another day!

Gingerbread Man Fingerplay

Stir a bowl of gingerbread (stir as in a bowl)
Smooth and spicy brown
Roll it with a rolling pin (roll as if with a rolling pin)
Up and up and down
With a cookie cutter (pretend to cut cookie)
Make some little men.
Put them in the oven (put pan in the oven)
Until half past ten.

Gingerbread Boy Song
Sung to: "Row, Row, Row, Your Boat"

Eat, eat, your Gingerbread Boy,
Before he runs away.
Faster, faster, faster please,
Don't let him get away!

Catch, catch the Gingerbread Boy,
Catch him, yes, today.
Faster, faster, faster still,
For he has run away.

Say bye-bye to the
Gingerbread Boy.
Say good-bye today.
Say so long for he is gone.
The fox ate him today.

The Gingerbread Man 
Sung to: "Wheels on the Bus"

The gingerbread man ran through the town,
Through the town, through the town.
The gingerbread man ran through the town,
Singing, "You'll never catch me."

He ran away from a cow,
cow, cow
He ran away from a cow,
Singing, "You will never catch me."

He ran away from a sheep,
sheep, sheep
He ran away from a sheep without a peep,
Singing, "You will never catch me."

He ran away from a dog,
dog, dog
He ran away from a dog,
Singing, "You will never catch me."

Then he came to a fox,
fox, fox
The fox sat on a box and said,
"You can trust me"
Then he ate him, yes sir - ee.

The Gingerbread Man 
Sung to: "The Muffin Man"

Oh, do you know the Gingerbread Man,
Gingerbread Man, Gingerbread Man?
Oh, do you know the Gingerbread Man,
Who ran and ran and ran?

He said, "Catch me if you can,
If you can, if you can."
He said, "Catch me if you can,"
Then ran and ran and ran.

I can run like the Gingerbread Man.
Gingerbread Man, Gingerbread Man.
I can run like the Gingerbread Man,
Now catch me if you can.

Gingerbread Man Finger Play

Stir a bowl of gingerbread   (stir as in a bowl)
Smooth and spicy brown
Roll it with a rolling pin  (roll as if with a rolling pin)
Up and up and down
With a cookie cutter  (pretend to cut cookie)
Make some little men.
Put them in the oven (put pan in the oven)
Until half past ten.