Munschworks 4: The Fourth Munsch Treasury [Hardcover]

A delightful treasury of five stories that includes 50 Below Zero, The Boy in the Drawer, Moira's Birthday, From Far Away, and Millicent and the Wind. Five very different stories that are all masterfully written.

"50 Below Zero" - Jason is sleeping when something wakes him up. His father is sleep walking. This story covers all the zany deeds Jason's father does in his sleepwalking escapades, including a trip outside on a 50 degree below zero night. Jason has to rescue his father from freezing. Jason then ties his father's toe so he can't walk further than the kitchen. The surprise Jason's mother finds in the kitchen is priceless!

"The Boy in the Drawer" - Shelley finds her room a mess, socks are everywhere. The culprit is a small boy who is reading in her sock drawer. When Shelley informs her mother of the mess, her mother tells her to clean it up. After Shelley cleans up the mess, the small boy precedes to grow a tomato plant in her bed, paint a window black, and take a bath in the breadbox. Shelley continues to clean up the mess the boy makes.

"Moira's Birthday" - It is Moira's birthday and she wants to invite grades one through six and kindergarten. Her mother and father both say, "NO," She can only invite six kids. All of Moira's friends beg to be invited, so Moira ends up inviting 200 kids, but Moira doesn't tell her parents. When the kids all show up, her parents don't know how they will feed everyone so Moira orders 200 pizzas and birthday cakes. When only 10 pizzas and cakes are delivered the kids all go home and come back with food. Moira tells everyone if they help clean up, they can take home a present. After everyone goes home 190 pizzas and cakes are delivered so Moira has another party the next day!

"From Far Away" - Saoussan is writing to her reader buddy about what her life use to be. Saoussan is now 7 years old and in second grade. She use to live in another country but a war caused her and her family to leave. They moved to Canada and Saoussan started to school in kindergarten. She didn't know any English so she couldn't understand her teacher or the children. For Halloween a skeleton was placed in the washroom, this scared Saoussan and she thought the war would come to Canada. Her teacher tried to explain but she still didn't understand English. When her father picked her up at school he explained Halloween to her. Saoussan did learn English and considers her kindergarten teacher a friend.

"Millicent and the Wind" - Millicent lives on a mountain which is a 3 day walk from the nearest children. She has no friends. When Millicent makes friends with the wind she has someone to play with. One day Millicent and her mother make the 3 day trip down the mountain to the far valley. The wind can't find Millicent because she is deep in the forest. The children in the town aren't nice to Millicent when they find out she is friends with the wind. One boy who is in his disbelief is picked up by the wind and tumbled, so the children run away. After Millicent and her mother return to the mountain, Millicent wishes she had someone other than the wind to play with. So Millicent asks the wind to find her a friend. The wind comes back with a boy for Millicent to play with and they do!

I bought this after reading Munsch's early stories like "Paperbag Princess" and "David's Father". They were charming light hearted stories that the kids loved to listen to. But the stories in this collection are bizarre and creepy. "Millicent and the Wind" is about a little girl who lives out in the wilderness with her family and her only friend is the wind. In the end she asks the wind to kidnap another child to her house so she has somebody to play with. "The Boy In The Drawer" is beyond strange. A little girl finds a tiny boy (leprechaun?) in her room who does crazy things like grow tomato plants in her bed. When she tells her parents the only thing they tell her is to clean it up. What's the point? The only story that is cute and appropriate for a young reader is "Moira's Birthday". Otherwise I would recommend you skip this volume and look up Munsch's first collection of stories.

This is one of the best and most entertaining children's book ever! Love it! I really recommend it to everyone.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 5 reviews  4.2 out of 5 stars