Gingerbread Baby

October 4, 1999
Brett (The Mitten; Comet's Nine Lives) presents a rather wordy and wandering version of "The Gingerbread Boy." Impatient for the gingerbread man to bake the full eight minutes that is specified in the cookbook, Matti opens the oven door prematurely and a doughy baby jumps out instead: "I am the Gingerbread Baby,/ Fresh from the pan./ If you want me,/ Catch me if you can." The cherubic child remains at home while his parents and a smattering of animals lead a cumulative chase through the Swiss countryside, depicted in minutely detailed pictures. Within the artist's characteristically intricate borders, windowlike cutouts shaped like gingerbread cookie cutters reveal Matti's activities at home: he bakes, constructs and decorates an elaborate gingerbread house, which he then places in a clearing in the woods. Well ahead of his pursuers, the fugitive cookie discovers the elaborate structure and happily takes refuge inside. The grand finale allows youngsters to lift a flap shaped like the gingerbread house to uncover its new resident, smiling and winking. Brett's fetching art offsets her rather facile narrative in a book likely to please her faithful fans and holiday gift shoppers. Ages 4-8.

November 1, 1999
PreS-Gr 2-One might ask if there is a need for yet another retelling of "The Gingerbread Boy." If it's this version, the answer is "yes!" Although the story remains true to the original tale, Brett has added her own touches and a surprise ending. The gingerbread baby slyly eludes both humans and animals, including the wily fox. It takes a very clever little boy to outwit and catch the spicy treat. The illustrations are pure Brett and feature warm colors against a snow-white landscape. The expressive human and animal forms carry this rollicking tale along to its conclusion. Many of the pages have intricate frames depicting scenes from the story and cookie-shaped cutouts that will delight youngsters. Because this story has more characters than other versions, the author cuts some of the repetition to preserve the fast pace. Of course, the familiar refrain "Catch me if you can!" will have little ones joining in and rooting for the gingerbread baby. A delightful confection.-Barbara Buckley, Jericho Public Library, NY

Copyright 1999 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 1999
Ages 4^-8. Once again Brett has given her own special spin to a classic. Obnoxious, cocky Gingerbread Baby is definitely a cookie for the millennium. Equally modern is his owner, Matti, a Swiss boy who bakes Gingerbread Baby all by himself. As the escaped cookie wreaks havoc on the snow-covered village, it is pursued by the expected cast of animals and town folk. Meanwhile, Matti is at home working diligently on a surefire plan to catch his errant creation, with his progress monitored in side-panel pictures. Brett's signature artwork is intriguingly detailed and delightfully old-fashioned: the Swiss locale gives the book a wonderful holiday feeling, as do the cookies and confections that decorate the picture borders. A special lift-the-flap illustration at the back reveals how clever Matti eventually triumphs. ((Reviewed November 15, 1999))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1999, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2000
When a gingerbread baby escapes from the oven, he leads everyone except the boy Matti on a wild chase. In her trademark decorative borders, Brett shows how Matti stays home and bakes a gingerbread house, into which he secretly entices the gingerbread baby. Brett's detailed illustrations offer more interest than does the story--a moderately amusing new take on a familiar tale.

(Copyright 2000 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)