Gingerbread Man - Fairy Tale Art - The Rhinestone Bookmark

"Run, run as fast as you can;

You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!"

Growing up, the character annoyed me a little bit. I always cheered when he got devoured by the fox in the end. That's what you get for being a brat, Mister Ginger. Or would that be Mister Bread?

You can read the story of The Gingerbread Man here at SurLaLune Fairy Tales. This post is already making me hungry. I'm seeing cookies in my near future.

One of our favorites is Jan Brett's "Gingerbread Baby". Her illustrations are so full of detail and life. I love the traditional costumes and Swiss setting. Here is a video of the charming Ms. Brett baking gingerbread cookies.

Look at that adorable Swiss Chalet.

A sweet 1960s version by Bonnie and Bill Rutherford. (image above and two below)

I was surprised to find so many illustrations of things other than gingerbread men...like this roll.

(from an uncredited 1961 book)

Look at that sly fox, acting like he doesn't have a care in the world. He's just ignoring that little...what the heck is that? A pickle? A sausage? Something worse?

This is from Johnny Cake, by David Nutt. It's a similar tale, but with a johnny cake taking the place of the gingerbread man. My daughter just asked, "Why are those people chasing that potato?"

Here's a version by L. Frank Baum---yes, the guy that wrote The Wizard of Oz books. There's a character named John Dough...ba dum ching.

by J. Sinclair

above and below by Barbara McClintock

This is gross. But funny. (from deviantart)

I got a kick out of these gingerbread depictions below by UK artist Sarah Jane Szikora. Not your traditional gingerbread, but anthropomorphic food is funny.

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