Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

With over thirty four million books in print, Jan Brett is one of the nation's foremost author illustrators of children's books. Jan lives in a seacoast town in Massachusetts, close to where she grew up. During the summer her family moves to a home in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.

As a child, Jan Brett decided to be an illustrator and spent many hours reading and drawing. She says, "I remember the special quiet of rainy days when I felt that I could enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to recreate that feeling of believing that the imaginary place I'm drawing really exists. The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real."

As a student at the Boston Museum School, she spent hours in the Museum of Fine Arts. "It was overwhelming to see the room-size landscapes and towering stone sculptures, and then moments later to refocus on delicately embroidered kimonos and ancient porcelain," she says. "I'm delighted and surprised when fragments of these beautiful images come back to me in my painting."

Travel is also a constant inspiration. Together with her husband, Joe Hearne, who is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan visits many different countries where she researches the architecture and costumes that appear in her work. "From cave paintings to Norwegian sleighs, to Japanese gardens, I study the traditions of the many countries I visit and use them as a starting point for my children's books."

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So begins the rollicking chase around Matti's kitchen and out into the countryside as Matti's mother, his father, the cat, and the dog run after the boisterous, bouncing Gingerbread Baby, only to be joined by a flock of goats, Martha and Madeline, a crowd of villagers and more. The Gingerbread Baby stays just out of reach, daring them to catch him all along the way!

But Matti's not with them. He's at home, and we see him in the borders patting and rolling and putting something into the oven. What is he making? Will he ever see his Gingerbread Baby again?

Yes! In a delicious twist at the end that surprises even that mischievous Gingerbread Baby.

Jan Brett's lively and beautifully detailed paintings catch the spirit of a favorite old tale through her cheeky little Gingerbread Baby and the colorful cast of characters who pursue him through a tiny Swiss village surrounded by forest and mountain.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Gingerbread Baby

Putnam Publishing Group

Chapter One

They mixed the dough, and Matti rolledit into the shape of a gingerbread boy.They popped him in the oven.Tick, tock. Matti peeked. Too soon!Out jumped a gingerbread baby!

"I am the Gingerbread Baby!Fresh from the pan.If you want me,Catch me if you can!"

The Gingerbread Baby ranaround the kitchen. The dooropened and in came Matti's father.The Gingerbread Baby ran out,shouting, "Catch me if you can!"

He ran by the cat. She sprang at him.They rumbled and tumbled,but the Gingerbread Baby came out on top.

The dog ran after him. The GingerbreadBaby climbed over the wall, shouting,"Catch me if you can!"

Matti stayed at home looking atthe cookbook. He heard his motherand father yelling, the cat meowingand the dog barking.

The Gingerbread Baby ran into the barn.He raced across the goats' backs,singing loudly, "Catch me if you can!"

The Gingerbread Baby stopped at the wellfor a drink. Madeline watched him.Martha tried to catch him.But she was too slow.

He grabbed the girls' braids,tied them together and ran off.

At home, Matti stirred, mixed and rolleddough. He put it in the oven."I will catch him if I can." Matti said to himself.

The Gingerbread Baby jumped into a farmwagon. A mama pig tried to catch him.But then he jumped into the air,twisted around and got away just in time.

"I am the Gingerbread Baby.I am quick. I am fast.I am clever. I am smart.No one can catch me!"

Now the Gingerbread Baby cameto a bridge. All the villagers andthe animals raced after him. So hejumped off, landed on a chunk of iceand floated down the river.

"Look at me. And what do you see?The best Gingerbread Baby ever!"he sang, and jumped ashore.

Continues...

Excerpted from Gingerbread Babyby Jan Brett Copyright ©1999 by Jan Brett. Excerpted by permission.
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