The Gingerbread Man

"The Gingerbread Boy" redirects here. For the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit short, see The Ginger Bread Boy. For other uses, see Gingerbread Man (disambiguation).
1918 illustration for the tale

The Gingerbread Man (also known as The Gingerbread Boy) is a fairy tale about a gingerbread man's misadventures while fleeing from various people that culminates in the titular character being eaten by a fox. "The Gingerbread Boy" first appeared in print in America in the May 1875, issue of St. Nicholas Magazine in a cumulative tale which, like "The Little Red Hen", depends on repetitious scenes featuring an ever-growing cast of characters for its effect.[1] According to the reteller of the tale, "A girl from Maine told it to my children. It interested them so much that I thought it worth preserving. I asked where she found it and she said an old lady told it to her in her childhood."[2]

  1. ^ "SurLaLune: 'The Annotated Gingerbread Man.'". Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  2. ^ Dodge, Mary Mapes, ed. (14 March 2012). St. Nicholas: A Monthly Magazine For Boys And Girls, Volume 2, Part 2... Nabu Press. p. 452. ISBN 978-1277939439. Retrieved 16 March 2019.