Catch That Cookie! - A New Holiday Book

Books about gingerbread men are very popular around the holidays-- especially with kindergarten.  I knew our readers were already familiar with the books we had in our collection, so I started a hunt for a new gingerbread book to read aloud. Thankfully,  didn't have to search too long! I received a copy of CATCH THAT COOKIE! by Hollie Durand and Caldecott Medal winner David Small, and I was quite excited to read it! I know David Small's work, and consider THE LIBRARY (written by Sarah Stewart) to be one of my all-time favorite picture books.

Durand, Hallie. 2014. Catch That Cookie! Ill. by David Small. New York: Dial.

Marshall is the main character of the book, and when we meet him, he's a little skeptical of the "runaway gingerbread men" stories he's heard in school. When I read this part to our kinder students, they couldn't understand why he didn't believe! I love that! 

He helps his classmates bake the gingerbread men in school, carefully decorating his own cookie with six raisins for eyes and a "silver-ball belt". The cookies are placed in the oven, but when his teacher checks them for doneness, the oven is empty! Our readers love this part! In the rest of the story, Marshall uses logical thinking and clues to find the gingerbread men, and gingerbread footprints lead him to the discovery of the cookies' location. 

At the end, Marshall changes his thinking about gingerbread men and their ability to run. 

It's a fun story that really engages young readers! 

My favorite illustrations are the pages where Marshall sits in this car with his dad and his gingerbread cookie at the end of the book. Dad's expression says he's enjoying the secret, too.

This story completely held their attention, and afterward, during checkout, I laid out die-cut gingerbread men, glue sticks, crayons, dot stickers, and cutouts of bow ties and hearts. They decorated them, and it was so wonderful to see their creations:

The activity was simple, but tied it perfectly with the book. The clean-up was easy, too.
I also made this vine of our activity.






One of the most memorable moments for me was when one of the kindergarteners asked for a pair of scissors. I asked her what she was planning to do. She said she was going to show that someone had taken a bite out of the gingerbread man. Here is her cookie:

Isn't that so clever?

I'm thankful for CATCH THAT COOKIE! and I look forward to sharing it again.

Click here to read more about this book!