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Discover 21 different gingerbread man stories! Each one is sure to be a hit this Christmas season. They make great holiday read-alouds, too!
As we get nearer to Christmas, I get so excited to read my favorite holiday themed books. The gingerbread man is a classic loved by audiences young and old.
I love reading different versions of the same basic story. It’s fun to compare and contrast the stories when we’re done.

Our holiday bookshelves are filled with different variations of gingerbread man stories. This collection is a great place to start filling your holiday book basket!
Gingerbread Man Stories
Fill your book basket with a great collection of different gingerbread man stories for kids. Most of these books can be found at your local library or used bookstore.
If you have a hard time finding them, you can order them on Amazon by clicking the images below.
Richard Scarry’s The Gingerbread Man | Originally published in 1953, The Gingerbread Man makes a perfect “Christmas gift, ready to delight any child who loves this favorite funny folk tale.
Catch That Cookie! | Marshall knows one thing for sure, despite what all the stories say: Gingerbread men cannot run. Cookies are for eating, and he can’t wait to eat his after spending all morning baking them with his class. But when it’s time to take the gingerbread men out of the oven . . . they’re gone!
Little Gingerbread Man | Inside Little Gingerbread Man kids will find the find out how the gingerbread man builds his house.
The Gingerbread Kid Goes to School | The school principal bakes a gingerbread cookie and brings it to school in his lunchbox. When the principal opens his lunchbox, the gingerbread kid winks and jumps off the desk. Where is he off to in such a hurry?
Gingerbread Christmas | Gingerbread Baby and his friend, Matti, take his gingerbread band to the Christmas Festival where they are a hit until the aroma of gingerbread reaches the children, signaling that it is time to run away. Clever Matti uses snow to disguise the gingerbread instruments while Gingerbread Baby leads the audience on a merry chase to the smartest hiding place ever–a giant Christmas tree.
The Gingerbread Man Loose on the Fire Truck | Guess who gets to go along on a field trip to the firehouse? The Gingerbread Man! But when he falls out of his classmate’s pocket, Spot the Dalmatian comes sniffing around. Luckily, this Gingerbread Man is one smart cookie, and he races into the fire truck, up the pole, and all through the station, staying one step ahead of the hungry dog the whole time. **NOTE: This book companion is perfect for this book!
The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School | When a class leaves for recess, their just-baked Gingerbread Man is left behind. But he’s a smart cookie and heads out to find them. He’ll run, slide, skip, and (after a mishap with a soccer ball) limp as fast as he can because: “I can catch them! I’m their Gingerbread Man!”
The Gingerbread Man | This irresistible retelling of the Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth and illustrated by Barbara McClintock is a perfect treat for cookie lovers everywhere.
Ten Tiny Gingerbread Men | Ten gingerbread men love bouncing everywhere. Follow the adventures of these adorable gingerbread men as they count down from 10 to 1 in this peek-through counting book with glitter accents!
Gingerbread Baby | Remember how the Gingerbread Boy is eaten by the fox? Well, not this Gingerbread Baby in a delicious twist to a favorite old tale.
Gingerbread Friends | Confident and cocky, the Gingerbread Baby happens upon a bakery, where he dances and prances in front of a sugar cookie girl, trying to make friends. But she just stares and doesn’t say a word, like all the other sweet treats he tries to meet.
Gingerbread Mouse | On a snowy winter’s night, Mouse is snug in her bed . . . Then—crack!—a tree branch falls and destroys her house. Now Mouse must find a new place to live. With determination, resourcefulness, and some Christmas good fortune, Mouse finds not only another house but also a place she can truly call home.
The Gingerbread Cowboy | The Gingerbread Cowboy can run from the rancher, he can dash past the javelinas, and he can giddyup right by the cattle grazing on the mesa. But what happens when he meets a coyote sleeping in the sun?
The Gingerbread Boy | This time, the gingerbread boy is on the loose in New York City, and he taunts everyone from construction workers to subway musicians, until his fateful chase through Central Park!
Georgie the Gingerbread Fairy | When an exciting new store comes to town, Georgie the gingerbread fairy closes her shop out of fear no one will buy her gingerbread, until an unexpected problem from the new store convinces her to try again.
The Gingerbread Girl | The lonely old woman and the lonely old man decide to bake a girl this time, but when they open the oven, she runs off like her brother did. Never fear, this smart cookie has a plan to outfox the fox. Will it work? Let’s just say that the ending is sweet for everyone.
The Gingerbread Family | Under cotton candy clouds a gingerbread family lives in a sugary world filled with delectably sweet images and scents. This scratch and sniff book features clear stickers that smell like gingerbread, lemon drops, chocolate, peppermint, and more!
The Gingerbread Man Loose at Christmas | Everyone in class is busy practicing songs and making goodies for their trip to town to thank community helpers, and the Gingerbread Man has made a gift for someone extra sweet. But before he can deliver his gift, whipping wind and swirling snow come to town, too. Slushy sidewalks are no place for a cookie, but this Gingerbread Man won’t let a little bad weather stop him!
The Gingerbread Man | The gingerbread man outruns everybody, until he meets the quick-witted fox.
The Gingerbread Man | Run, run, as fast as you can! Can any body catch the gingerbread man? With beautiful and charming illustrations to enjoy again and again, this simple retelling of the children’s classic fairy tale is perfect for readers of all ages.
The Gingerbread Pirates | A funny and magical Christmas story about a gingerbread pirate, Captain Cookie, and his daring adventure on Christmas eve to rescue his crew from a mysterious cannibal named Santa Claus…
Is your favorite version of the Gingerbread Man on this list? If not, leave a comment telling me what it is so I can check it out.

ROUND OUT YOUR UNIT WITH THESE ACTIVITIES
Your toddler or preschooler is going to have a ton of fun playing and learning and playing with this felt Gingerbread cookie set! It’s a wonderful alternative to hard plastic play food.
Boost fine motor and early STEM skills as kids build sweet structures with sticks, swirls, gumdrops, and more with this Candy Construction Building Set.
This Christmas, preschoolers can practice sequencing with this 3-step gingerbread sequencing mat. Available in both color and line art.
I also love: Stop That Pickle by Peter Armour. The gingerbread man is replaced by a pickle, who is chased by a little boy and a number of other foods. It has a fun twist to the stories end.
The Gingerbread Man by Carol Jones is another fun version. The gingerbread man is chased by nursery rhyme characters and the end is left for the reader to decide.