PALMERSTON – A Palmerston classroom got an unforgettable experience after writing to famed Guelph author Robert Munsch.
Palmerston Public School teacher Marian Stroeder said her Grade 3 and 4 split class wrote to Munsch after doing a unit on fiction which included many of his books.
“He has so many different stories that appeal to so many different children,” Stroeder said in a phone interview. “He always includes names of kids he has met over the course of his life.”
She tied in a letter writing assignment to give her students an authentic experience of letting Munsch know how much they all enjoyed reading his books.
The class even took a socially-distanced walking trip to the post office to deliver the letter.
Stroeder said the response back was timely and included questions and answers about Munsch, a poster and an unpublished story he wrote that featured the names of all the students in class.
“They were super pumped, it was fantastic, they were so excited and they really felt sort of famous,” Stroeder said.
“They’re really hoping this unpublished book one day might hit the store shelves.”
The story Munsch sent them was titled The Cowardly Dinosaur.
Stroeder explained that it is about a dinosaur, who as titled isn’t brave, and a group of children who encourage him to be more courageous.
“It was a great learning moment for us, because we were able to read the new book together as a whole class with all their names in it,” she said.
In usual Munsch fashion, the story features “some funny little twists and turns and, as he usually does, takes them on a little adventure with this dinosaur.”
Stroeder said there’s a generational link as many of the students’ parents mentioned would have read Munsch’s books growing up.
She also thinks this will give the students a deeper connection with a local author and foster a love of reading.
“I think it’s easy for this generation of children to get away from an actual book that they can hang onto,” she said. “That’s important for kids to be connecting with books and reinvigorate their love of reading.”
