Beloved children’s author Robert Munsch promising dozens of books to come after his death

Robert Munsch has been delighting children around the world with his books and stories for decades—and he tells his fans that dozens of new stories are in the works.

“There are about 50 stories here,” said a respected Canadian children’s author. “When I die, they will still publish Robert Munsch books.”

Munsch, 80, shared the news in a recent interview with CBC News chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault at his home in Guelph, Ont. — he called the interview his “last hurray.”

His plan is to edit and illustrate about one book a year after he leaves.

“Nobody lives forever,” he said. “But I will have at least a couple of years, as many years as I already had. [after I’m gone]and it will be great.”

Munsch opened up in recent New York Times interviewpublished in September that he would be approved for medical assistance in dying (MAID) when the time came. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and dementia, which he says he is coping with despite the damage.

“I tell people I'm fine. I'm not fine,” he said. “I fall, I forget the words… I can’t walk more than two blocks.”

When asked in an interview with CBC if he had anything to say to people who might be worried about him, Munsch replied, “I'll be fine.”

“It's like Bob to face life head on.”

Munsch is pleased with his decision to maintain control and decide when he is ready to leave, and his wife Ann, 53, said she was not surprised by his choice.

“It’s like Bob coming face to face with life,” Ann said. “And we both feel that this is the right and legitimate choice, and he has decided that this is what he wants to do when the time comes – and fortunately for both of us, maybe especially for me, that is still a long way off.”

Still, although the physical effects of his condition are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore, Munsch said he is adamant that the stories he wrote and loved to perform for children are still intact in his memory.

“I feel like I have a strong power over them, and when I try to tell them, it's like I've always told them,” he said. “And I'll lose that over time, but right now they're okay.”

The stories, about 100 of which were written over decades, have sold 90 million copies in North America alone and have been translated into 50 languages ​​around the world. They received numerous Munsch Awards for Literature, the Order of Canada, Juno, and a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.

But despite his celebrity status, he enjoys welcoming his young readers away from the spotlight.

“I like to give away books in stores,” he said. “And the mother will say: “Oh, this is Munsch’s book.” It’s amazing how I infected an entire generation of people with my books.”

Traveled all over the country visiting schools

Among the most popular names for Munsch are: Paper bag princess, Marble, marble, marble And Mortimer.

The book for which he is best known is love you forevertells the story of a mother who cradled her son as an infant, only to have him cradle her back at the end of her life. Published in 1986, the book sold 38 million copies and rose to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.

Munsch wrote this after he and Anne lost two stillborn children before adopting three children. He said he knew it was something special when he read it to groups of families.

“The kids laughed and the adults cried, and that made it special,” he said.

In his prime, Munsch crisscrossed the country, visiting hundreds of schools, often dropping in unannounced and surprising the teachers and librarians who approached him.

He said this is where he feels most alive and where he still finds solace.

“I dream that I am on stage in front of a large audience,” he said. “When things get tough, that’s where I go.”