good enough to eat: gingerbread friends by jan Brett

~ jama



Mmmmm!! Look what just popped out of the oven — Gingerbread Friends, a freshly-baked sequel to Jan Brett’s scrumptious 1999 book, Gingerbread Baby.

Yes! That sassy, cocky little cookie baby is back for another adventure. We last saw him safely tucked away in a little gingerbread house made especially for him by his creator, Mattie. Though surrounded by lots of treats and toys, the Gingerbread Baby is lonely when Mattie goes off to ski and skate with his friends.

So, the next day, when Mattie is busy in the kitchen, the Gingerbread Baby decides to pop on over to the village to find some friends of his own. There, he sees a man and woman just his size in the bakery window. Although he sings and dances for them, they won’t move or even look at him. Undaunted, the Gingerbread Baby approaches a Sugar Cookie Girl and tries to win her over with his song:

I’m the Gingerbread Baby,
Gallant as can be,
I’ll be friends with you,
If you’ll be friends with me.

But she, too, remains stiff and silent. His efforts to similarly befriend some swans and a couple dancing atop a mountainous cake are equally fruitless, so he ends up running through a little door just his size and falls asleep. He is rudely awakened by the strange sensation of someone nibbling on his marshmallow pom pom. A cheeky mouse! A frantic chase ensues, involving a cat, the baker, his wife, and a fox! Can the Gingerbread Baby escape with his life once again?

Set in a snow-luscious Swiss mountainside village, Gingerbread Friends will satisfy your holiday sweet tooth with its delectable, lick-the-page watercolor and gouache illustrations, all rendered in Brett’s intricate, detailed trademark style. The spreads featuring all the bakery confections — breads, cakes, pies, mountains of cookies and candies, can only be described as “an ultimate feast for the eyes.” The side borders depict an equally delicious subplot — Mattie is shown busy in the kitchen, baking — well, I won’t tell you what and spoil the ending, but trust me, the fruits of his labor delightfully explode in a final giant foldout page.

Brett has said that it takes her an hour to draw an inch, and her brilliant work is proof of the pudding. Young readers will have a ball poring over the pictures, which serve up new details with each glance. I love the spread of the Gingerbread Baby outside the bakery — a tiny cookie person at a big blue door, and of course the gingerbread side borders, featuring recipe ingredients framed in frosted hearts, which inspire unabashed drooling every time, as it effectively hints at the ending and revs up anticipation.

For those of you who haven’t yet visited Jan Brett’s website, prepare to be amazed. It contains 4,696 (gasp!) pages, filled not only with book information, but activities (placemats, puzzles, signs, labels, drawing lessons, on and on), coloring pages, home and school projects, videos, games, and the occasional contests. To extend your enjoyment of Gingerbread Friends, you can create and print out your own greeting cards and envelopes, make a 2009 calendar, construct a 3 x 6 foot mural, or even design your own gingerbread friend. Loads of holiday and year-round fun for all ages, a real internet treasure trove that gives new meaning to the term, “interactive.”

  *If you somehow missed Gingerbread Baby, be sure to watch this video with Jan reading the story to several children. They’re even munching on gingerbread men cookies while listening to her. Man, I love the smell of gingerbread baking in the kitchen (Jan says her studio smelled like gingerbread for an entire year while she was working on this book).

 

You can find Jan’s recipe for gingerbread babies here. Grab it before it gets away from you!

Don’t miss this fun interview where she answers questions posed by students and teachers.

Also, from Scholastic, a great Author Study page, featuring lessons based on many of her other books.

 

22 thoughts on “good enough to eat: gingerbread friends by jan Brett”

  1. My kids (and I) love-love-loved many of her books when they were little, and we read and re-read them quite a lot. I particularly liked the way the borders tipped you to a simultaneous story, or to what was next. I’m not surprised it takes her so long to do her art, since it’s so very involved.

    Thanks for this post, Jama!

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  3. I’ve admired her books for what seems like forever. Such a distinctive style and amazing detail. There’s such an Old World European flair to her work, and her realistic portrayal of wild life is gorgeous, too.

    You’re so right about the borders — such an added bonus.

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  5. I love, love, love gingerbread! Today at the grocery store, I saw a bag of red-hots and I had to buy them for the gingerbread men I suddenly craved. And now I come home and see that you somehow anticipated my need for a recipe!

    I also have some dear friends who are expecting their first baby this week. I’m thinking that this book would be perfect for a December baby gift, don’t you?

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  6. Ohhh, I love gingerbread! Thank you for letting me know about these books. The illustrations look beautiful and delicious. I am now checking out the coloring pages on Jan’s site and I want to print them out and buy new crayons so that I can color them in. *giggles like a little girl*

    Now I am craving gingerbread latte!

    Tarie
    Into the Wardrobe

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  7. Yes, Sara, of course I knew you needed a gingerbread recipe! I’ve never used red hots on my men; I was always afraid they’d melt. (Looking back at that last sentence, I sound like a vixen or something.) I usually use currants for eyes, and pass on the frosting. But that’s my age showing.

    Either of Jan’s Gingerbread Baby books would make the perfect gift. In the first story, Mattie opens the oven too soon, allowing the baby to jump out. The second book has a great fold out page at the end. Plus, you can print out your own matching card and envelope at Jan’s website. I also noticed that one of B&N’s gift cards features an illo from Gingerbread Friends. She’s everywhere!

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  9. Hee! The librarian at my daughter’s school (where I volunteer part-time) talked about Brett’s books today to the first-graders! After talking about Brett’s books and art style in general, she read “The Trouble With Trolls” to them. 🙂 And “The Gingerbread Baby” is one of my daughter’s favorites.

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  11. Alas, Santa is all shopped out at this point. (And she’s getting a pile of books already.) Maybe our library will acquire it soon?

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  16. This one was already on my shopping list! It looks lovely….

    I would love to spend an afternoon wathcing Jan Brett at work–I want to see how she does it!

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  18. AWESOME review! I picked up Gingerbread Baby for the first time the other day – which was the first Brett book I have picked up.

    VERY interesting that it takes her an hour to draw an inch. She has much to be proud of.

    – Carrie, Reading to Know
    http://www.readingtoknow.com

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  22. Pingback: chronological book review archive « Jama's Alphabet Soup

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