It is also a wonderful example of ingenuity. Mimi by Carol Baicker-McKee is a wonderful little story about a little girl pig named Mimi and her pet Frank, the roly-poly bug. It was so “Oooo LA LA!” that it has stuck in the family as her little nickname even though she can now properly say “Mina.” We have seen Mimi videos, songs, movies, but we were thrilled when we found a book called Mimi! Last year, Mina couldn’t say “Mina,” so she decided to give herself a nickname: Mimi. Now both grandmothers can share the excitement, and eat the cookies, of the ginger man bread, I am I am. It was an instant hit in Turkish as well and became the favorite story for Mina’s Turkish grandmother to read. The translated title: The Biscuit Man! Slightly different, but contains the same essence. Curious as to how a rhyming story could be translated, I ordered it.

When it hits England, it turns into The Runaway Johnny Cake, and, finally, becomes The Gingerbread Man when it crosses the Atlantic to America.Īs I was on a Turkish book website one day, what pops up: The Gingerbread Man translated into Turkish. I guess the story hails from Germany and was originally called The Runaway Pancake. Interesting, I thought, but are there any more? I googled the story and found a site appropriately called “ The History of the Gingerbread Man.”

It was in the book by Valeri Gorbechev called Silly and Sillier. The same day, ironically enough, we were downstairs reading another book, an anthology of world stories, and another version of The Gingerbread Man popped up: The Runaway Pancake. We whipped up a batch and cut them into shapes. Mina ran and still runs around the house chanting “Can’t catch me, I am the ginger man bread, I am I am!” That proceeded into one morning around 7 a.m.: “Mama, can we make ginger bread man I am I am cookies?” Hmmm… I need a recipe! Thank goodness for the Internet! I was kind of picky because I wanted one with real ginger, not powdered. When Mom came for Christmas, she brought with her my old book, The Gingerbread Man.