"Run, run, as fast as you can,You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"

(The Gingerbread Boy)

These were the mischevious words of the Gingerbread Boy, in a tale first printed in 1875, in the May issue of St Nicholas Magazine.

The fairytale starts with "a little old woman and a little old man, [who] lived by themselves in a little old house". The use of the word "little" implies the poverty in which the man and woman live in. The story then goes on to say that "They had no little boys and no little girls". As a child reader, this made me sad. Two "little old" people surely deserve to have children, don't they? 

"One day, the little old woman said to the little old man, "I shall make a little boy out of gingerbread"

Alas, respite was given to my sticky little mind, and - as with all the children's books we have looked at - a sweet treat is given to the readers to make them feel happy again and it's clear that sugar is used in this tale to sweeten the old couple's situation. This time, however, the characters aren't urged to EAT the sugar, as it comes in the form of a little gingerbread boy! Instead, like the old couple, the reader wants to look after him and treat him like a normal little boy. 

As an adult reader, it seems ludicrous that somebody would make a son out of gingerbread because they hadn't had any children. It could even be argued that Freud's unheimlich or uncanny can be applied to this fairytale. 

On the other hand, my young mind was convinced that I had cracked it. THIS is how children are made. 

Don't have a child? No problem, all you need is:

100g of gingerbread

A shape cutter (girl or boy, it's really up to you)

2 fat currants for the eyes

Bits of lemon peel for the nose and mouth

Sugar for the coating (otherwise known as 'skin')

Method:  mix the gingerbread, until flesh-like. Roll the gingerbread on a lightly floured surface and cut the shape of either your little boy or little girl. Place on a baking tin. Put the sugary skin on your little child-to-be; remember to make this layer moderately thick. Add the currants and lemon peel, wherever you want - it's your child after all. Pop into a pre-heated oven and cry "Oho! Now I shall have a little gingerbread boy [or girl] of my own"

"The little old woman put the gingerbread boy into the oven to bake"

In an hour or so, you should have a warm, sugary child, who will try to get away from you, the first chance they get. 

Ta-daaaaaa.

N.B. If you want multiple children, just increase the quantities to suit.

It is important to know, however, that the oven was seen as a symbol for the womb or "transformation of life" (Zach Kopinski's Blog: http://zachkopinski.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/new-look-at-gingerbread-man.html )

Of course, however, the gingerbread boy doesn't get too far - after encountering a cow and a horse, he met a "sly old fox". 

As a child, who was well versed in Chicken Licken, I knew that THIS IS BAD. 

As it so happens, the gingerbread boy and the fox encounter a river which the little boy cannot cross without the help of the sly animal. 

"Little gingerbread boy, you are too heavy for my back...Jump onto my nose"

Predictable as it may be, the gingerbread boy is "tossed" into the air and gobbled up by the fox. 

I chose this tale for my blog because I think it's interesting to recognize that here, it's the sugar that's being tempted by an animal. In Hansel and Gretel and The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, sugar is used as a medium to corrupt the children in the respective books and is used as a device to lure a child reader in. 

"The fox opened his mouth and snap went his teeth"

Bye-bye, Gingerbread Boy.