The Gingerbread Man (Tutorial 1)

            Children love to hear stories, especially bedtime stories. It was my favourite time where my dad will tell me many different stories, from Indian classical stories till world war stories. Most of the times I will be snoring before my dad end the story. When I was in primary school my teacher forced me to read English story books. This is how I learnt English and attracted to story books.

            My favourite story of all time is “The Gingerbread Man”... I was actually forced to read this story as I need to memorize it and compete in a story telling competition. I was 10 at that time. My English teacher, Madam Seetha gives me a tiny book (it was too big at that time for me) and asks me to read it. I manage to memorize it and performed well in the competition. I manage to get third place in that competition. From the day, this story becomes my most favourite story ever.

“The Gingerbread Man” is a classical English story. This classic story is about an old man and an old woman who make a gingerbread cookie in the shape of a man. The gingerbread man comes to life and runs out of the house yelling "Run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man." The old man, the old woman, a cow and a cat cannot catch him. He then meets a sly fox along the way and the fox convinces him to jump on his back so he can cross the river. The fox tells the gingerbread man to jump on his head so he does not get wet. The fox opens his mouth and eats the gingerbread man in one bite.

The reason why I choose this story is simple because it is funny!!! The illustration of the book was really interesting and eye catching. If the young readers could not manage to understand the story line is a particular page, they can look at the illustrations and easily guess the story. So, the illustration plays an important part in this funny story. There are also a short song, "Run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man", repeated many time in the story. It is fun to sing along with all my friends in class and do actions like gingerbread man.

There are many characters portrayed in this story – the gingerbread man, old woman, old lady, a cow, a cat and a sly fox. The gingerbread man is the main character in this story and the sly fox can be said as the villain in this story.

This story is really suitable for young children as it is funny and they can learn many new words. There rhyming sentences also can make the kids to sing along with their friend and it was repeated again and again in the story. This can attract the kid’s attention to read it till the end. The message in this story is also another highlight that should be noted. We should not be boastful and proud of our self. Moreover, this story also develops imagination, and imaginative children almost always have the ability to relay the most boring situations in exciting ways.

The gingerbread man – fun alias funny!!!

Children's World

Recently, I have been asking myself, ‘What makes a good children’s story book?’ Quite simply, is it fun to read? Is the plot well constructed with a good beginning, middle and end? Are the characters engaging and realistic? My lecturer gave me a simple answer for it. He mentions that children’s story must be funny, engaging and slightly ‘naughty’ – which children love.

One of the good example of children story would be the story of “Edwina the Emu” by Sheena Knowles. This story is about a two emus – the female emu, Edwina and the male emu, Edward. In this story, the female emu went out of her nest for work to support her family and new ten emus that going to born from the eggs. Edwina went to find a suitable work for her, while her husband, Edward takes care of the eggs. First she become a ballerina, but was rejected due to her physical appearance as an emu. Then, she thought she can be chimney sweeper, but again she was rejected because she is an emu. Lastly, she tried to be waiter. There a customer said that he could eat ten eggs for his breakfast. At this time, Edwina realized that she best suits become a mother rather than work. She runs away to her nest and was relieved to see her ten eggs save and ready to hatch.

I think this story is suitable for young kids and adults as well. It contains the important elements such as hard work, independent, motivate and not forgetting, the love towards children. The illustration of the book is another attraction towards it. The colorful content will make the children to read the book more enthusiastically. The message from this story is beneficial as it reminding us the lesson that we gain in the past. Edwina is best suits as the mother and raise up her kids. The writer comes up with rhyming sentences to make it easier and simple to read.

Another story is The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldsonis. This story is about a smart mouse that uses his tricks to escape from other animals from eating him. The tiny mouse met a few animals such as fox, owl and snake when it was searching for food. He describe about Gruffalo to threaten the other animals from not eating him. But, at last he met with his imaginative creature at the end. To escape from the Gruffalo the mouse said everyone is the jungle afraid of him. Finally, the mouse escapes from the Gruffalo using its intelligence.

The story contains some attractive elements to gain children attention towards it. It shows how the mouse uses its imaginative skills to overcome the problems and survive in the jungle that full with many harmful animals. The mouse uses its intelligence to overcome the problems. Moreover, the illustrator has done a great job by giving colourful pictures for the children to refer.