Read this story on Yak Yacker with clickable word help, full story audio, and lesson notes below the text.
This version is written for English-speaking learners who want a friendly reading experience in English.
Once upon a time, a lived in a .
One day, she a .
She .
Then she the .
The !
He of the house.
"!" cried the old woman.
"!" cried her , the little old man.
But the Gingerbread Man did not .
"!" he said.
"You can't me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!"
He a cow.
"!" said the cow. "I want to you!"
"!" said the Gingerbread Man.
"You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!"
He a horse.
"!" said the horse. "I want to you!"
"!" said the Gingerbread Man.
"You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!"
Soon he a .
He could not .
A saw him.
"I can ," said the fox. " my tail."
So the Gingerbread Man the fox's tail.
The fox into the river.
" my back," said the fox.
So the Gingerbread Man the fox's back.
The water was .
" my nose," said the fox.
The Gingerbread Man the fox's nose.
Then the fox .
And the Gingerbread Man.
That was the of the Gingerbread Man.
A long time ago, a small old woman lived in a small old house.
One day, she baked a gingerbread man.
She placed him in the oven.
Then she opened the oven door.
The Gingerbread Man jumped out!
He ran out of the house.
"Stop!" yelled the old woman.
"Come back!" shouted her husband, the small old man.
But the Gingerbread Man kept going.
"Run as fast as you can!" he said.
"You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!"
He ran by a cow.
"Stop!" said the cow. "I want to eat you!"
"Run as fast as you can!" said the Gingerbread Man.
"You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!"
He ran by a horse.
"Stop!" said the horse. "I want to eat you!"
"Run as fast as you can!" said the Gingerbread Man.
"You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!"
Soon he reached a river.
He couldn't swim.
A fox saw him.
"I can help you," said the fox. "Jump on my tail."
So the Gingerbread Man jumped on the fox's tail.
The fox swam in the river.
"Jump on my back," said the fox.
So the Gingerbread Man jumped on the fox's back.
The water was deep.
"Jump on my nose," said the fox.
The Gingerbread Man jumped on the fox's nose.
Then the fox opened his mouth.
And ate the Gingerbread Man.
That was the end of the Gingerbread Man.
This story has some tasty and fun words. Look at the pictures to help you remember.
- gingerbread man - a cookie shaped like a person
- oven - a hot box to bake food
- river - a long blue line of moving water
- swim - to move in water
- tail - the long part at the back of an animal
- fox - a wild animal with orange fur and a big tail
The story tells us what happened. So the verbs are in the simple past. Some verbs change a lot, others just add -ed.
Look at these words from the tale:
- make → made
- run → ran
- say → said
- jump → jumped
- open → opened
- cry → cried
The Gingerbread Man says the same thing to everyone. You can use this when you play!
- "Run, run as fast as you can!" means run very quickly.
- "You can't catch me!" is a playful way to say you are too fast.
- Say it when you play tag or race your friends.
Listen to the story again and try to say the words. Can you tell the story to a friend? You can even draw the Gingerbread Man!
The Gingerbread Man comes from an older public-domain story tradition and is best known as a public_domain_folk_tale_retelling. This Yak Yacker article is an original learner retelling based on public-domain source material, so the wording here is simplified for modern learners rather than copied from one old edition.
Older printings, translations, and retellings of this story can vary quite a bit. This version is adapted for A1 Beginner learners studying English.
If you want to keep going, browse more in our English section and review the A1 English Vocabulary List. After that, try English Question Words for another useful next step.
