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?

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