The Story of the Gingerbread Man

An old woman lives in a village.
She lives with her old husband.
They don't have any children.

One day, the old woman is in the kitchen.
She's making something.
She's making a gingerbread man.
The gingerbread man has a head.
He has arms and legs.
He has two eyes, a nose, and a mouth.
The gingerbread man is ready to put in the oven.
The old woman is very happy.

"You're a little boy," she says to the gingerbread man.
"My little boy!" she says.
"In you go!" says the old woman.
And she put the gingerbread man in the oven.

But soon the old woman hears a little voice.
It's coming from the oven.
"Open the door!" says the voice. "I want to come out!"
The old woman opens the oven door.
And the gingerbread man jumps out.
"Oh!" says the old woman.
"Stop!" says the old woman.
"Come here!" she says.
But the gingerbread man doesn't stop.
He runs across the kitchen and out of the door.
The old man sees him.
"Stop!" shout the old man and the old woman.
"Come here!" they say running to the gingerbread man.

But the gingerbread man doesn't stop.
He runs faster and he shouts:
"Run, run! You can run. Yes, you can. But you can't catch me.I'm the gingerbread man!"

The little gingerbread man runs and runs.
Soon, he sees a cow.
"Stop!" says the cow."Come here! I want to eat you." it says.

But the gingerbread man doesn't stop.
He runs faster.
And now the cow runs after him.
"I can run away from an old woman," says the gingerbread man. "I can run away from an old man. So I can run away from a cow!"

They all run after him.
And the gingerbread man shouts:
"Run, run! You can run. Yes, you can. But you can't catch me.I'm the gingerbread man!"

The little gingerbread man runs and runs.
Soon, he sees a horse.
"Stop!" says the horse."Come here! I want to eat you." it says.

But the gingerbread man doesn't stop.
He runs faster.
And now the horse runs after him.
"I can run away from an old woman," says the gingerbread man. "I can run away from an old man and a cow. So I can run away from a horse. Yes, I can! You can't catch me. I'm the gingerbread man!"

The gingerbread man runs and runs.
"They can't catch me!" he says.
"Nobody can catch me."

Just then he sees a fox.
"Stop!" says the fox. "Come here!"

But the gingerbread man doesn't stop.
He runs faster.
And now the fox runs after him.
"I can run away from an old woman," says the gingerbread man. "I can run away from an old man. I can run away from a cow and a horse. So I can run away from a fox!"

They all run after him.
And the gingerbread man shouts:
"Run, run! You can run. Yes, you can. But you can't catch me.I'm the gingerbread man!"

"Stop!" says the fox.
"I don't want to eat you. I want to talk to you. I want to be friends with you!"
But the gingerbread man doesn't stop. He runs faster. And now the fox runs faster too.

The gingerbread man runs and runs. Soon he sees a river.
"Oh no!" he cries. "A river! I can't swim!"

"Listen," says the fox. "I can help you. I can swimacross and you can sit on my tail."
So the gingerbread man sits on the fox's tail.
And the fox begins to swim.

But soon the fox says, "Listen! You are too big for my tail. Sit on my back."
So the gingerbread man sits on the fox's back.

But soon the fox says, "Listen! You're too big for my back. Sit on my nose."
So the gingerbread man sits on the fox's nose.

The fox swims across the river and jumps out.
The fox throws the gingerbread man up.
Up! Up! Up!

Then he opens his mouth and...
cathes him!

"Help!" he says. "My legs! My legs!"
"Help!" he says. "My armss! My arms!"

Then the fox eats the gingerbread man's head.
Now the gingerbread man doesn't say anything.

And that is the end.
Yes, that is the end of the gingerbread man.

Note: The story is taken from the book Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs of Oxford University Press (www.oup.com/elt). Some sentences have been changed because some of the situations need pictures. So, it's much better if you can get your own book because of the beautiful and colorful pictures. Cd is also included in the book. What I do for my students is to let them listen to the story everyday before taking the lesson. And after a month, it's amazing that most of them can memorize most of the content of the book. Some can even memorize everything.