BooksForKidsBlog

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Christmas Cover-up: Gingerbread Christmas by Jan Brett

EVERYONE IN THE VILLAGE IS TALKING ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL.

MATTI TOLD THE GINGERBREAD BABY.

"I CAN SING IN MY GINGERBREAD BAND!" THE GINGERBREAD BABY SANG OUT.

Matti points out that his Gingerbread Baby doesn't exactly have a band. But that's no hindrance for these two master bakers, who quickly mix up a batch of ginger cookie dough and shape them into band instruments, who bounce right out of the oven and begin to warm up as soon as Matti adds the detail of strings and keys with decorative frosting.

Matti hitches up his cheerful hen to the sleigh and the band rehearses all the way to the little Alpine village, where the festivities are already in progress. Gingerbread Baby and his gingery musical mates take the stage and start their spicy serenade. The townspeople begin to dance to the sweet waltz music. But then one sharp-eyed girl in the audience steps up close and peers at the jolly musicians.

"I THINK THESE INSTRUMENTS ARE REALLY COOKIES!" SAID ANN-SOPHIE.

"I SO WANT ONE!"

Oops! Gingerbread Baby and Matti had planned on providing music for the festival, not refreshments!

Thinking quickly the Gingerbread Baby does what he does best--he leads the villagers in a chase around the village Christmas tree, as he sings....

"Silver stars twinkle in the night. Silver trees and snow delight!

Hand in hand we twinkle around. Twinkle in the magic sound."

Unnoticed, the gingery instruments slip behind the stage, where Matti quickly scoops of handfuls of snow and converts the cookie instruments into covert jolly snowmen, and loading them on his sleigh and giving his draft chicken a quiet Giddyup, the clandestine musical snowmen disappear from sight into the night.

That was a close one, Matti thinks, as he makes for home with his camouflaged and intact cookie crew,

And meanwhile the Gingerbread Baby himself cleverly takes cover in plain sight amid the Christmasy decorations on the giant village tree, in author-illustrator Jan Brett's third Gingerbread Baby story, Gingerbread Christmas (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2016). Brett saves an even bigger treat than cookies for her fans, with a enormous two-page pop-up Christmas tree, filled with bright decorations and one Gingerbread boy, bravely trying to blend in.

It's another jolly and bright Christmas story, illustrated in her signature style with plenty of red and green and predictive side panels and frames which forecast what happens next for sharp-eyed readers, in yet another illustratively attractive classic Christmas tale for the best-selling Brett. Other popular Christmas tales by Jan Brett include The Wild Christmas Reindeer, The Night Before Christmas by Jan Brett, (2011-11-01), The Three Snow Bears, and Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve?

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