'He didn't know that he was showing me my future career. 76 things you might not know about Robert Munsch.The fourth of nine children in a Pittsburgh family, Munsch describes himself as a 'noisy' kid who didn't do well in school and often got into trouble. Munsch grew up in a household of stories. The stories will be the last thing to go, I think.' Storytelling roots 'My stories, strangely enough, are all there. Munsch was famous for dropping into schools and reading stories to classes. 'Now, if I were God in charge of the world, I would make it illegal,' he said. Munsch said the diagnosis came as a 'relief,' since he could sense that something was wrong. (ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation/Canadian Press) His book Just One Goal has been translated for children of Nunavut. Munsch, centre, tells his stories to Toronto schoolchildren on Jan. I kind of thought I would like to do this interview as a last hurrah.' So it's been really whittling away on who I thought I was. 'I can't drive, I can't ride a bicycle, I can't write.

'I have ongoing dementia,' said Munsch, 76, in his interview with Shelagh Rogers. He's decided to share some difficult news that he hasn't talked about publicly before. His publisher, Scholastic Canada, writes that he receives about 10,000 fan letters a year.Īn author like Munsch, a mainstay on bestseller lists since the 1970s, doesn't need to do press. But this year, as his latest books I Can Fix It!and Think Big! come out, he reached out to The Next Chapterfor an interview. His stories have been translated into 20 languages, including Anishinaabemowin, Arabic and Swedish.

Since publishing his first story over 40 years ago, the Guelph, Ont., writer has sold more than 80 million copies of his books in North America alone.

A mother rocks her baby to sleep every night and sweetly sings, 'I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always.' A boy yells 'Clang clang, rattle-bing-bang!' every night at the top of his lungs to protest bedtime.Īll of these classic tales - and nearly 100 others that line children's bookshelves around the world - come from the brilliant mind of Robert Munsch. A princess outsmarts a dragon, breaks up with her bum of a prince and skips off, barefoot and dirty, to make her own happy ending.

Robert munsch forever and always