Summary
"The classic tale of the old couple, with no children of their own, who bake a gingerbread boy to keep them company. Just as the little old woman is about to take him from the oven, he slips away and runs out the door past a cow, a horse, a group of threshers, mowers, etc. All follow in hot pursuit until the gingerbread boy meets up with a wily fox, and 'at last and at last he went the way of every single gingerbread boy that ever came out of an oven . . . He was all gone!' A wonderfully frenetic cross-country chase is depicted in Galdone's broadly humorous color wash drawings. Of the eight editions of this well-known story now in print, this hilarious version is the most delectable." --School Library Journal, starred
"Galdone has already proven many times over that he is perfectly at home with those traditional nursery tales that are still preschoolers' favorites, and his expressive, unassuming style just right for their very young audience. . . . Children will follow along breathlessly . . . right up to that last snip snap snip when the Gingerbread Boy goes 'the way of every single gingerbread boy that ever came out of an oven.'"--Kirkus Reviews
Paul Galdone was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1907 and immigrated to the United States in 1928. Though he was also a painter and sculptor, he is best known as a writer and illustrator of children's books.
During his early career Galdone worked in the art department at Doubleday where he designed a successful book jacket. The experience led him to believe that he could make a living as a freelance illustrator. He left behind the working world of New York City when he and his wife moved to rural Rockland County, New York.
Many of Galdone's works are adaptations of fairy tales and folktales. Some of these are The House that Jack Built (1961), Cinderella (1978), and Three Aesop Fox Fables (1971). He illustrated the well-known Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars and sequels written by Ellen MacGregor. He has illustrated works by John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Edward Lear, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. During his career he illustrated over 100 books and wrote and illustrated several dozen others.
Galdone was twice runner up for the Caldecott Medal, in 1957 and 1958.
Paul Galdone died in 1986.
(Bowker Author Biography)
