The gingerbread man comes to life after being baked and escapes from the woman who made him. He taunts various animals and people who try to catch him as he runs away, saying "Run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!". Eventually he comes to a river and tricks the gingerbread man onto his back to carry him across, but eats him when they reach the other side. The story teaches about using quotation marks correctly to identify direct quotes.