Horn Book (Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2015)

Destined to become Santa's snack on Christmas Eve, resourceful Gingerbread Boy reins in the household's two unruly puppies and helps Santa clean up the mess they've made. Instead of eating him, an impressed Santa hires the cookie as watchman for his toy shop. Lively pictures, many cookie's-eye-view, illustrate this amusing (if sometimes halting) rhyme in the style of "The Night Before Christmas."

School Library Journal (Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

PreS-Gr 1 On Christmas Eve, a Gingerbread Boy anxiously awaits the arrival of Santa Claus and his own demise as a snack for the jolly old elf. "Later that evening/When he'd be devoured/Would he be brave?/Or a crumbling coward?" Two rowdy puppies soon tear him from his morbid thoughts; to stop them from making more of a mess with presents and the Christmas tree, the Gingerbread Boy distracts them by dancing until Santa arrives, then helps Santa clean up. Impressed, Santa hires him instead of eating himand the puppies get a gift certificate to obedience school. The text, which uses the rhythm and rhyme scheme of Clement C. Moore's iconic "The Night Before Christmas," lollops along, and the spreads of a plucky, icing-daubed Gingerbread and those two gamboling puppies will be kid-pleasers. Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library

ALA Booklist (Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

A gingerbread cookie is baked especially for Santa's visit in this spin on "The Night before Christmas." As he sits awaiting Santa's arrival, the cookie has some concerns: "Later that evening, / When he'd be devoured / Would he be brave? / Or a crumbling coward?" Then two enthusiastic puppies burst into the room. The gingerbread boy attempts to divert the dogs' attention to keep them from demolishing the tree and ornaments. The puppies' antics keep the cookie's mind off his troubles until the big man arrives. Bright illustrations will hold children's attention as the gingerbread boy, reminiscent of Mr. Bill of Saturday Night Live fame, interacts with the dogs and with Santa Claus himself. Youngsters will anxiously listen to learn the cookie's fate.