Robert Munsch – despite being very nearly silenced by a stroke last year, and having one of his new stories delayed because of an attempted terrorist bombing, of all things – is clearly very much back in the swing of things. On Saturday, Jan. 16, Munsch launched the French and English versions of his newest book, Put Me In a Book! (Scholastic Canada) at Chapters Scarborough. The event was in support of the literacy foundation ABC Canada, of which Munsch is an honorary chair – perhaps as a result of his little-known earlier book, Make Me an Honorary Chair! (Photo courtesy of Scholastic Canada)

Author Beth Powning launched her new novel, The Sea Captain’s Wife (Knopf Canada), at the Royal Canadian Legion in Sussex, New Brunswick on Jan. 15. The launch featured Powning and friends in period costumes, the singing of sea shanties, a miniature lighthouse, artificial fog, and the author herself reading from the book (in front of a reported 500 attendees) on the prow of a mock ship. (Photos courtesy of Dave Nickerson/Knopf Canada)

You thought we were kidding about the mock prow of a ship, didn’t you…

There were no costumes, lighthouses, or fake ships at the launch of three Dundurn Press Spring YA titles at Indigo Yorkdale on Jan. 16, but there was cake. Three cakes, in fact, in the form of the three books being launched: Girl on the Other Side by Deborah Kerbel, The Silver Anklet by Silver Birch Award-winner Mahtab Narsimhan, and Ghost Ride by Marina Cohen. Above: Kerbel, Narsimhan, and Cohen get out the knives. (Must… resist… “have your cake and read it, too” joke….) (Photo courtesy of Dundurn Press)

After the Christmas Day terrorist threat aboard a Detroit-bound plane, the public has had to deal with longer wait times, intrusive full-body scanners – and now the delay of the latest book from Robert Munsch.

According to the Toronto Star, the Canadian children’s author was planning to release his next book, Temina’s Dolls, at the end of 2010. However, newly heightened airport security and carry-on restrictions seem to have rendered the story inappropriate for the time being. From the Star:

“We were going to do a story on a little girl who smuggles all these dolls onto a plane, but then that thing happened in Detroit,” said Munsch. “Scholastic calls me up in a panic saying, ‘Hold everything, that kid couldn’t smuggle anything onto the plane, she’s lucky to get onto the plane herself.’”

Munsch said he had no problem with the change, and even chuckled about the coincidence of a story of his clashing with a real-life situation. He is now in talks with the publisher on his next project.

The book tells the story of a little girl with 27 dolls, who learns the value of sharing. You can see where the problem lies after reading the book (which you can do, since Munsch posts his unpublished stories online):

“NO!” said Temina, “You may not look in my backpack. My backpack is top secret. Even my mom does not know what is in my backpack.”
“Right,” said the man. “But if I do not look in your backpack, then you do not get on the airplane.”
“Well,” said Temina, “OK.”
So the man unzipped the backpack and all the dolls unscrunched and uncrammed and went flying all over the airport.
“AHHHHHHHHHHH!” yelled the man, “HELP!!!”
All sorts of policemen and soldiers came running and pointed guns at Temina and her dolls.
“IT’S JUST DOLLS,” yelled Temina.
“WE’RE JUST DOLLS,” yelled the dolls.

Prolific children’s author Robert Munsch will join Margaret Atwood and Pierre Berton to become the third author among the 124 members of Canada’s Walk of Fame in September. The announcement from Canada’s Walk of Fame and Canwest describes Munsch’s contribution to Canadian culture:

From the first time he stood in front of a group of children as a student teacher at a nursery school in 1972, Munsch’s animated presentation grabbed hold of the imaginations of his listeners and he’s been telling stories ever since.

To qualify for induction to Canada’s Walk of Fame, candidates must have been born in Canada or have spent their formative or creative years here. Munsch, a Pittsburgh native, falls under the latter category. Although Munsch, 64, suffered a stroke last August and has yet to return to writing, the author’s editor at Scholastic Canada, Diane Kerner, assured fans in a recent comment on a Toronto Star article that there are many more Munsch books to come:

As Robert Munsch’s editor, I want to let readers know that while he may not be writing new stories right now, he has dozens of stories ready for publication and Scholastic continues to publish two books a year. His most recent book, Down the Drain!, came out this spring, and Roar! will be published in September.

A chance encounter between an eight-year-old schoolgirl from Guelph, Ontario, and mega-selling kids’ author Robert Munsch has led to the publication of Braids, a new book by the beloved storyteller. According to a report in The Toronto Star, Munsch met Grade 3 student Taya Kendall at a reading last January at the Guelph Public Library:

The famed Canadian children’s author was struck by the girl’s resemblance to a character in one of his unpublished stories, about a girl who reluctantly allows her hair to be braided but is ultimately pleased with the result. Munsch granted Taya permission to use the story in the school newspaper she had launched earlier that month at Sir Isaac Brock Public School.

Now, a new edition of the work, published in partnership with New Internationalist magazine, and featuring 28 illustrations by Taya’s classmates, is being sold for $10 through the magazine’s web site and at select retailers across the country, including Mabel’s Fables, Parentbooks, Ella Minnow, and Treasure Island Toys. Proceeds are going to the Children of Bukati, a charity that supports more than 650 AIDS/HIV orphans in Kenya.

The Star goes on to suggest that Braids could be the only new title from Munsch for some time. The 64-year-old author suffered a stroke last August and has yet to return to writing.

(Thanks to Canadian Magazines for the tip.)

Family Literacy Day isn’t officially until next Tuesday, but to help draw attention to the cause, the literacy organization ABC CANADA is boldly attempting to set a new Guinness World Record. Beginning at 2 p.m. today and running for the next 24 hours, people from across the country have been reading aloud from Robert Munsch’s Munschworks 2 (published by Annick Press) with the aim of toppling the current record for “Most Children Reading with an Adult, Multiple Locations.” From the release:

To date, over 900 events, with an estimated 158,000 participants at locations across the country, have been registered online in the attempt to break the current U.S. record of 78,791 adults and children reading together.