Munschworks Grand Treasury: The Landslides in Johnson's Landing

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!

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