ALBARRACIN, Patricia
CHAO, María Paula
Debby Slier is one of the most famous publisher adapter, author, illustrator and photographer of children´s books. She retells The Gingerbread Boy, a Read Along With Me book. Through humour and tenderness, the writer captures children's attention during the whole narration.
Slier presents the narrative describing an old couple with no children. One day, when the old lady is baking gingerbread cookies, she makes one of them in shape of a boy. At the precise moment she opens the oven, he comes to life and runs out of the kitchen singing "Run, run, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me! I'm a Gingerbread Man. I am! I am!” He gets away from the old man, the little old woman, a horse, a cow and a mouse .Next, he comes to a river and trying to cross it, he is cheated by a clever fox that, finally, eats him all up. In all likelihood, this sharp unhappy ending spices up the story.
All sequences of events described in the story, repetitions of words and phrases encourage children to follow the Gingerbread Boy’s adventures with enthusiasm until the last page. In addition to this, there are words replaced with drawings in the margins of each page. Adults can help children to identify the symbols that stand for these words and figure out grammatical structures. The book would serve as a bridge to join playing and learning.
The story will keep children amused at the time they pick up reading. Don´t miss the opportunity for sharing this outstanding work with them. Take my word for it: you will enjoy this marvellous tale as much as kids will!
You´ve convinced me girls! I´m going to read that book. I love your review! I think that it´s very well organized and I agree with Amilcar as well: I really like the words you´ve chosen to describe the book in such a positive and convincing way... they´re not only positive but strong and persuasive. The only thing that I felt strange while reading it is in the following sentence: "He gets away from the old man, the little old woman, a horse, a cow and a mouse." It is maybe because you´ve introduced the old couple but not the animals you´re mentioning here, so where were they in the story? I feel that there is something missing in that sentence to make it clearer. Perhaps you could make two lists in the same sentence separating the old couple and the new characters with an "and" or adding after the animals a "that he encountered in his way" or something like that. But it´s just a detail. You´ve made a good work. Congrats!
ReplyDelete