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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/entertainment/columnists/nchurnin/stories/030204dnlivchurnin.50d04.html Writing is a healing exercise for children's author 06:14 PM CST on Monday, March 1, 2004 By NANCY CHURNIN / The Dallas Morning News No publisher wanted Love You Forever when Robert Munsch first sent it around. They didn't get it, he says. It wasn't funny like his previous books. But he just had to write the story of a mother who rocks her baby all the way through adulthood, crooning: I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living My baby you'll be. Writing it was the only thing that helped him heal after he and his wife had two stillborn babies. Mr. Munsch, now 58, reads Love You Forever along with a dozen of his funny stories on a new CD (Love You Forever - The Best of Robert Munsch from The Children's Group in Ontario, $15.99). The lucky publisher that eventually took Love You Forever got more than a best seller (Firefly Books, $12.95 hardcover; $4.95 paperback, for ages 4-8). Mr. Munsch is now Canada's best-selling children's author. In the United States, sales of Love You Forever have passed the previous all-time children's best seller, Goodnight Moon. And that, says Mr. Munsch, is not just because his mother orders books by the crate to give to her friends. It is one of those remarkable books that children love for one reason and adults like for another. Kids get that it's about a parent who will love them all through life. Adults understand that the parent is aging, and that one day the child will be doing the rocking. Mr. Munsch, Canada's most-requested school guest, says he was a disaster at school himself. "I was always very distracted. I was always looking out the window, daydreaming. The teachers did the best they could with hard material," he says. After graduation, he worked as a child-care instructor. "It was long hours and terrible pay, but you really feel you're doing something," he says of those years. "You feel you're doing a service that people appreciate." The native of Pittsburgh, now a Canadian citizen, was born into a family of nine children. He says he always loved being surrounded by kids and telling them stories - which is one reason he recorded the new CD in a studio filled with children. Mr. Munsch met his wife at child care. She was a fellow worker who also loved kids. She urged him to write down his stories. He didn't listen. A librarian advised him to write down his stories. He still didn't listen. The librarian's husband, who happened to be his boss, told him to write down his stories. Then he listened. He sent 10 stories to 10 publishers. The 10th one published Mud Puddle , the tale of a kid in a nursery school. Many more would follow, including Love You Forever in 1988. Mr. Munsch continues to visit with kids at schools and libraries. He also communicates with them on his Web site, www.robert munsch.com. He says kids still provide his best ideas and inspiration. That includes his three adopted children, all of whom have books that he's written just for them. Love You Forever remains his favorite book for a singular reason. "When I tell it, it always reminds me of the kids I lost," he says. "It always hits me." Mary Ludwick, Librarian K-5 Elementary Owen Elementary, The Colony, Texas (near Dallas) ludwickm@lisd.net (school address) ludwick@swbell.net (home address) "Those who don't read have no advantage over those who can't." Mark Twain Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=- All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/el-announce/ LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-