The Gingerbread Man is a fairy tale about a gingerbread man's misadventures while fleeing from various people that culminates in the titular character being eaten by a fox. "The Gingerbread Boy" first appeared in print in the May 1875, issue of St. Nicholas Magazine in a cumulative tale which, like "The Little Red Hen", depends on repetitious scenes featuring an ever-growing cast of characters for its effect. According to the reteller of the tale, "A girl from Maine told it to my children. It interested them so much that I thought it worth preserving. I asked where she found it and she said an old lady told it to her in her childhood."
1918 illustration for the tale
A gingerbread man is a biscuit or cookie made from gingerbread, usually in the shape of a stylized human being, although other shapes, especially seasonal themes and characters are common too.
Gingerbread man
A gingerbread man, with icing decoration
Freshly baked gingerbread men with a variety of decorations
Gingerbread man (styled after The Gingerbread Man from Shrek) with his wife and dog in front of a gingerbread house