The Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires, illustrated by Holly Berry.

Out in the Wild Wild West, a rancher’s wife makes him a cowboy from gingerbread.  But when the rancher peeks into the oven, you can guess what happens.  Out jumps the Gingerbread Cowboy and off he runs, “as fast as his boots could carry him.”  As he runs, he dashes past all sorts of wild west critters like a roadrunner, horned lizard, and long-horned cattle.  But, as with most gingerbread boys, this one finds himself a coyote willing to take him across the river.  The book ends in the traditional snappy way.  The book is easy to read aloud and just calls for a variety of voices from the reader.  Great fun!  The illustrations will project well when used with a group, from the double spread of the Gingerbread Cowboy before he is baked to the yellow-oranges of the desert that he runs through. 

I enjoyed the western theme of the book combined with a real tribute to the original tale.  Share this one in a couple of different themes and units.  You can include it in twists on favorite tales as well as for those cowboy themes.  This is one to capture with your lariat and hold onto tight.