The Current - Robert Munsch’s donates personal archive to Guelph library

Episode Date: November 14, 2025

Children's author Robert Munsch is donating his personal archive to his hometown library because he doesn't want it stored in some dusty room. He wants the public to get their hands on it, says Guelph Public Library CEO Dan Atkins.

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Join us. Because kids these days, we need you more than ever. Donate at GeoFoundation.com. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. Canadians treasure Robert Munch, but people in Guelph, Ontario have a special attachment to the children's book author because he is one of them. He has lived and worked in that small southwestern Ontario city for 50 years. He's part of the community, and now his personal archive will live there too.

Robert Munch recently revealed that he plans to one day die. with medical assistance because of his dementia, and he is donating the notes and letters and recordings from a lifetime of writing to the Guelph Public Library. Veronica Tonga is a new parent in Guelph. I grew up here in Guelph, and we would always read him in school, of course, and he would do readings, so that would always be a big event.

He was always so fantastic, and for our baby shower, we requested exclusively Robert Munch Books because we love him so much, such a big part of, part of my upbringing. Those readings that Veronica speaks about, they often took place in the Guelph public library, and they're an integral part of how Robert Munch creates his stories. Before he publishes his books, he reads aloud to children

and adapts those stories according to their reaction. Here's Robert Munch, reading from his classic book, Mud Puddle. One day, Julesand's mother gave her clean new clothes. She put on a clean new clothes. shirt buttoned it up the front clean new pants buttoned them up the front and Julianne walked out the back door la la la la la la and sat down underneath an apple tree hiding up in the apple tree there was a mud paddle it saw Julian down there it jumped right on her head

She got completely all over muddy. Even her ear was full of mud. Dan Atkins is the CEO of the Guelph Public Library. Dan, good morning. Good morning. Thanks for having me. That's amazing, isn't it? It's such an amazing story. It's one of my favorites, but all Robert Munch stories are lively.

And there's always a big moment. And children are always waiting with anticipation for that big moment. That book, Mud Puddle, was his first published, It was written in 1979. He was working at the preschool at the University of Guelph, and it was inspired by what he saw around him in Guelph. It was a wet spring day. The kids came in, filthy, covered in mud, as one does. Tell me about his roots in Guel and what he means to the community. Yeah, he's such an important part of the community. And I just want to say how much I love the story, the mud puddle. And I think it's so indicative of his many stories. They're often about children

navigating the adult world. You know, the mud puddle in particular, it's written from a child's perspective. You know, a story like that is so important, I think, for children to understand because so often, you know, they live in a world that's governed by adults. And I think early on when Robert Munch was working at the University of Guelph in the daycare center, he started to see sort of these adult rules that were imposed on children. And children were just quietly trying to navigate the world. Of course, a child is going to get muddy when it's a spring day. What are those readings like at the library when he would show up and read, we heard a little bit of that, and we heard a parent talk about it. From your perspective, what is it like when he brings the Robert Munch to the library? It's really incredible because, you know, Robert Munch is quite a quiet, humble person. And then when he starts his stories, they're so lively and energetic. You know, his stories are built to be read aloud. There's rhymes, there's repetitions, there's sound effects. So you feel like you're seeing it.

it performed rather than it being read to you. You can see children lean forward, their eyes are wide, waiting for that silly moment that they know is coming. It creates a shared experience that children, caregivers and librarians can all feel together. And his whole point, I mean, he's talked about this a lot, that these are stories that aren't meant to, there's no lesson. There's no, this isn't about approving children. There's no moral. Do you know what I mean? This is about life as a kid. That's so true. And in so many of his stories, Mortimer, the paperbag princess, these are children, you know, living in the adult world. Of course, Mortimer wants to stay up and party all night long.

You know, there's never, there's never, you know, a lesson to be learned from the child's perspective. I think the lesson is for the caregivers or for the parents to understand that, you know, children have perspective and, you know, they're learning to navigate the world as well. I want to talk about the archive and what's going to be coming to the library in just a moment, but what is your own relationship with Robert Munch? Well, I grew up in Guelph, and so I have seen Robert Munch a number of times. And, you know, for my fourth birthday, I received a cassette with Robert Munch recordings on it,

the mud puddle, of course, and Mortimer and a few of the others. And, you know, I listened to that cassette so many times that I memorized how Robert Muntz. told his stories. And so I tried to do that with my own children. When I read those stories, of course, I don't do it as well as Robert Munch, but I try. You do a Robert Munch impression for your kids? I try. I try to.

Give us a little bit of that? No, I can't do that. Oh, come on. What do the kids say about it? You know, it's always such a great time. I mean, I think particularly when there's a story done it, at the Guelph Public Library. You know, reading is not something that comes easy to everyone,

and it's such an important skill, obviously, in this world. And, you know, his stories, the way he tells stories, I think also engages children in a way to read. I think, you know, Robert Munch is often the first story that children hear, and particularly when he's telling those stories. I think it can really sort of stimulate a love of reading. And children, when they begin to read, can also try to emulate sort of Robert.

Munch and start to animate the words that they see on a page. And I think that's just such a beautiful thing that Robert Munch is able to do. I mean, he makes me reading, not that it's not fun, but he makes it really fun, right? He certainly does, yeah, right. So he would have, I would imagine, this enormous collection of things that that helps shape those books and stories, but also things that have come out of those stories. What did he say to you about why he wants that archive to live in your library?

You know, I think Robert Munch could have had his archive donated anywhere, and obviously any institution would have been happy to accept his archive. I think Robert Munch is part of the Guelph community, and I think, you know, recognize that public libraries are part of the community. There are democratic institutions that are open to everyone. He could have chosen to lock his archive away in a vault somewhere. I think he intended for this archive to be interacted with. not just by academics, but by everyday people and by children. And so at the Guel Public Library and at Public Libraries, we're able to provide that type of access. There's no library card that's required to walk into the door. Anybody of any walk of life is able to come in and use our resources, and anybody will be able to come in and see the Robert Munch archives. Do you know what's in it?

We have an idea of what's in it. Like you said, it's a huge collection. spanning 50 years. We haven't gone through and done archival curation of it yet, but we're certainly expecting, you know, first drafts, letters from publishers, letters from fans, there's a Juno award, a number of other awards, as well as many gifts that he's received from the various places that he's visited across Canada. And you're going to make it available to the public. I mean, as you said, libraries are part of the commons. And this is meant to be to be, to be used by the public and seen by the public? Yeah, quite right. This is meant to be seen by the public

and used by the public. We'll have items on display. There'll be controlled access, obviously. People won't be able to take the material home, but when the library's open, the collection will be available. Robert Munch spoke in 2021 to our friend Sheila Rogers when she was the host of the CBC radio program, the next chapter. And 2021 was when he revealed that he had dementia and was living with dementia. Have a listen to what he said to her about what he hopes people will take from his stories. Ordinary people fight a lot and still get along together and adults and kids fight a lot and still get along together. That's a subplot of my books. Kids love your parents and

parents love your kids. It's a complicated world and try to make the best of it. It's a complicated world, try to make the best of it. What do you think when you hear that? I think that's so true. And I think that, you know, to circle back to the mud puddle, you know, that's a story, that's a story about mess. And that can be taken literally about a mud puddle, or it can be a story about how life is messy. And no matter how hard we try, sometimes we can't avoid the mess. And, you know, I think rooted in every story is, is acceptance, is love. And the best way to navigate this messy world is, is with those values. So many of us parents have spent so much time reading his books to our kids and doing those impressions like you have to our kids,

but there's nothing quite like the real thing. And this archive will be a real resource for people in your community and well-beyond. Dan, it's great to talk to you. Thank you very much. Thanks very much for having me. Dan Atkins is the CEO of the Guelph Public Library that will house Robert Munches archives in years to come. This has been the current podcast. You can hear our show Monday to Friday on CBC Radio 1 at 8.30 a.m. at all time zones.

You can also listen online at cbc.ca.ca slash the current or on the CBC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca slash podcasts.