The Munschworks Grand Treasury

As a child growing up in Canada during the 1980's, I couldn't have avoided Munsch if I'd wanted to. So many of his books are practically culturally-required reading for more than one generation, I'm pretty sure they'd revoke citizenship if you didn't like at least one of his stories. My favorite in this collection is also the one that was my favorite of his when I was little-- The Paper Bag Princess-- it's a delightful story with the added bonus of having a smart female heroine that can stand up for herself and realizes after saving the prince that he's not all that great and she's better off dumping him! It's good to see so many of his classics collected in a nice hard covered collection and I'll try to hit some of the highlights for those of you that are not familiar with his work. Jonathan Cleaned Up - Then He Heard a Sound was always my little brother's favorite. He used to say that he HAD cleaned his room up like he'd been asked but just like poor Jonathan, a subway's worth of commuters had trampled through his room and left it a mess again. This story is one of those "giggles guaranteed" tales that your kids will probably want to hear again and again. A Promise is a Promise is probably my second-favorite (first place goes to the tragically out of print "Giant, or Waiting for the Thursday Boat"-- find a used copy on Amazon!) for the beauty of the illustrations. The story is quite frightening though and is best skipped over if you're reading to a young child as it deals with very frightening creatures that live under the ice. The girl, of course, manages to outsmart them and save the day, but it's still pretty freaky for a young kid. I Have to Go! and Thomas' Snowsuit both deal with how kids always seem to find the wrong moment to need to use the washroom. It's funny (and familiar) territory for kids and their parents. I could go on and list the strengths of each of these stories. They all have something delightful, unexpected, or totally relatable about them and have all stood the test of time. The book itself is a very nice large size, perfect for reading with multiple children or just for sharing with one that really wants to see all the great detail in some of the pages. I can't praise it enough, and am thrilled that I now have a son to share these classics with. There are some notable missing classics like Love You Forever (which my mother could never read to us without tearing up!), 50 Below Zero, Millicent and the Wind, The Dark (or Mud Puddle if you want a similar but slightly less frightening take on the same concept), The Boy in the Drawer-- honestly I could keep listing pretty much everything he's done. I wouldn't be fully happy without a "complete works" collection, so instead I'll have to settle for some of his truly best stories in one nice, durable volume. If you are on the fence about this because of the price, I can pretty much promise that any child will find at least one story in here that they will keep asking for again and again. If you're looking for a perfect gift for a child, this should unquestionably be on your shortlist. If you're a parent looking for a reliable "go to" collection for bedtime stories, look no further! Happy reading!

This was one of my kids' favorite authors when they were little. I recently bought this for a friend's daughter (5 yrs. old) which is a perfect age (really 5 to 90 yrs. old in my opinion!) Munsch writes wonderful stories that engage both kids with it's wacky takes on subverting things we expect to happen but always in a loving and playful way (not dark like Roald Dahl can be). Especially fun is the way he writes that make reading these stories aloud just as much fun for parents! I still laugh out loud when I even think about some of the gems in this tome. A wonderful gift for any child in your life! They will love and remember you forever.

I purchased the book because my grandson loved the Pigs book. The length of each story is perfect for his age (3 years old.) We read a couple for reading time each day. We have many lessons/ideas to talk about for each story. Usually some humor in each story too which he enjoys. Glad I purchased the book.

I teach PreK. They LOVE to hear stories. We have many many favorites, but none more so than Robert Munsch. Seriously, I reread these stories over and over and they never got old. The class all had favorites and they would call them out, "Read Mortimer Next!" "Read I Have To Pee!" "Read the one with the Quileute!" They love them all and on the craziest of days I can turn on the clean up song, sing the mat song and start reading. Within a minute or two they're all on the mat, in their spot and quietly listening... well, unless we read Mortimer, then they're singing along. This is definitely a must have for any early childhood or home children's library.

If you don't know this author, and you have small children to read to, PLEASE order this book! All this author's children's works are wonderful, fun to read aloud, geared towards children and their point of view...and appealing to adults as well. It's possible to buy the books individually, of course, but I decided to give this to the daughter-in-law to read to my grandson because I couldn't decide which of them to get! Highly recommend.

We read this book every. single. night. I cannot say enough wonderful things about the Munsch Grand Treasury, except maybe that I wish I could find it! We thankfully have a copy but I wanted to gift it to friends and it cannot be found. The stories are entertaining to parents but also empowering to women. It's so different from the "classics" we've been gifted by relatives. The girls/women in these stories are powerful and aren't simply treated as props—they're clever, mischievous, helpful, difficult—well rounded. It's as if this author thinks women are people. I really hope they do a reprint because I want to give this to every new parent I know.

We always have like this author and we were excited to see that we can have it all in one book! It's very well made and the colors and pictures are beautiful. This book with all the stories will make you laugh

Robert Munsch knows just how to write a ridiculously fun story. This collection contains a little something for everyone. We got it for our 3-year-old daughter, who still asks for stories from it every night. The last story is a little scary for her, but she really enjoys all the others.

Great book. durable for young hands. Excellent artwork and story writing. Hours of fun.

Super witziges Buch mit tollen Bildern. Die Geschichten sind sehr originell und lustig. Das Buch ist auf englisch. Man kann es sehr gut zum vorlesen verwenden. Die Kinder verstehen es, ist nicht so schwer.

Amazing service. Amazing book.

Great collection of stories

Excellent condition and beautiful book!