The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School

In Murray's first children's book, a spry, role-reversing story told through comic-book panels and buoyant verse, a gingerbread man is the pursuer, not the pursued: "I'm the gingerbread man,/ and I'm trying to find/ the children who made me,/ but left me behind." Cookie-related humor runs through both Murray's rhymes and Lowery's cartoons, as the gingerbread man%E2%80%94as dapper as he is determined%E2%80%94tracks a group of students through their school; after losing a toe, he visits the nurse: "I'll limp and I'll limp,/ as fast as I can." The gingerbread man's introduction to friendly, identifiable school landmarks echoes the experience of new students. Ages 5%E2%80%938. (July)