The Gingerbread Girl

Ernst (Sylvia Jean, Drama Queen) offers a spry takeoff on the tale of the hapless Gingerbread Boy, starring ""his younger, wiser sister."" Here, the woman and her husband, ""lonelier than before,"" decide to bake a gingerbread girl and decorate her with candies (""Surely a sweet little girl wouldn't run away!""). Alas, the animated cookie does just that, declaring, ""I'll run and I'll run/ With a leap and a twirl./ You can't catch me,/ I'm the Gingerbread girl!"" Pursued by the distraught couple, the speedy gal repeats this refrain as she encounters a parade of characters, from a family of farmers, to a pig, to a young dog walker and a playground full of children, all of whom join the chase. When she comes across the fox that devoured her brother, the smart cookie plays dumb, accepting his ride in apparent innocence. But she loops a strand of her licorice hair around the animal's snout and ""tied it off with a half-hitch knot."" The tale ends at the no-longer lonely couple's home, where the heroine eagerly mixes up batter to bake cookies to feed the ""hungry, happy household"" filled with parade participants. Infused with ample humor and set against appealing gingham-checked backgrounds, Ernst's art handily conveys the story's energy and the title character's sassy personality. Ages 4-up.