THE GINGERBREAD TWINS

A persistent fox tries to re-create the perfect gingerbread recipe in this debut illustrated children’s book.

It isn’t easy making gingerbread. Fox once ate the most scrumptious, delectable gingerbread cookies, but the older woman and man don’t make them anymore, and he has been racking his brain for the right recipe ever since. He tries and tries but can never seem to get the correct combination of ingredients together. It isn’t until he has a dream that sparks inspiration for a further batch of cookies that he finally succeeds. But all is not as he hoped: His gingerbread twins, Gavin and Greyson, jump right off his cookie sheet and make a break for it. Chanting “We’ll run double fast, / with gigantic grins. / You can’t catch us, / we’re the gingerbread twins!” Gavin and Greyson escape to a nearby town, first hiding in a bakery before running to the park. Fox is hot on their trail, though, and he may just be able to catch them. Readers will love how all the twists and turns of this story keep them on their toes. The bright, warm illustrations by Scebold bring depth and movement that take the tale to the next level, integrating with the text through speech bubbles inspired by graphic novels. Although it isn’t clear why only some speech is in bubbles while lines like most of those belonging to the gingerbread twins and Fox’s “Where could they be?” are integrated into the text, the format isn’t hard to follow. The same is true for rhyme. Most of the lines, mainly belonging to Fox, are rhymed but not all, and the transition is abrupt. But Fox’s rhythmic baking mantra is cute and simple and could be used to create a call-and-response between storyteller and audience in a read-aloud situation. The tale’s end seems sudden, perhaps because it is a shame to leave Hayes’ characters and Scebold’s images behind. This story is an engaging addition to the genre of runaway gingerbread fairy tales that has been popular for almost 150 years.

A fun and enjoyable gingerbread tale with striking illustrations.