If Lacey can’t remember to put her clothes in the laundry, her mom is going to make her wear a weird grandma shirt to school…. And who knows what could happen?

With his classic style, Robert Munsch takes a normal, everyday situation and turns things upside down! When Lacey goes to get dressed for school she finds she has. . .no clean clothes! Her mom tells Lacey to wear the shirt her grandma gave her. It’s a weird shirt that says: “Kiss me, I’m perfect!” Lacey just knows the other kids are going to make fun of her. On the way to school, Lacey meets a cat, a dog and an eagle. They all read her t-shirt, and give her a kiss! Then she meets a moose, who gives her a large wet moose kiss, right up the front of her face and over the top of her head. Lacey is thrilled – maybe this shirt is wonderful, not weird! “This is a story about Lacey, a girl from Stewart, B.C. All the animals in the story are really in Stewart. Not near Stewart, IN Stewart. The day I made up this story the kids could not go out for recess because there were two grizzly bears on the playground. Lacey was in grade one and was wearing a t-shirt that said, “GIVE ME A KISS HUG,” says Robert Munsch.

Robert Munsch is Canada’s bestselling author.Long before he started writing books, he was a storyteller. The first time he told his stories to a group of children was in 1972, when he was a student teacher at their nursery school. The children liked his stories, so he started telling them more often. He would often take the same story and tell it again and again, changing it a little bit each time, until it got to be really good. Kids liked how loud and animated he was while he told them stories, so he kept doing that, too. This would become his signature storytelling style.

Eventually, once his stories got really,reallygood, he wrote them down and sent them to a publisher. The publisher said Yes! to the story that became the bookMud Puddle.Today, more than 50 Robert Munsch books have been published. Some, likeLove You Forever,became runaway international bestsellers. Some, likeThe Paper Bag PrincessandZoom!,challenge conventions and stereotypes. But nearly ALL of them are based on real kids that Robert Munsch has met, often on his tours and travels. Sometimes, as inFinding ChristmasandPyjama Day!, he even uses his own family. Each book is dedicated to the kid or kids it is based on. You can find out more about the story behind each book by clicking on the About this story buttons on this website.

While Robert Munsch has countless fans across North America (he receives about 10,000 letters a year!) his books are also popular around the world. They have been translated into over 20 languages, from Arabic to Swedish, including several First Nations languages. Robert Munsch has received many awards for his work as an author and storyteller. He has a star on Canadas Walk of Fame, the Order of Canada, and a school named in his honour!

Robert Munsch was even once a kid himself. He grew up in a large family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Now that hes grown up and has (grown-up) kids of his own, he lives with his wife in Guelph, Ontario, where you can often find him on long walks with his dog.

Michael Martchenko has always loved to draw. He started off drawing new pictures for his favourite comic books, then went to art school and became the art director at an advertising agency. His first picture book was Robert Munsch’sThe Paper Bag Princess. Now he writes and illustrates picture books full time from his studio in Toronto, Ontario. He has collaborated with Robert Munsch on many titles, including, Mmm, Cookies!, We Share Everything, Alligator Baby, Makeup Mess, Up, Up, and Down, Andrew’s Loose Tooth, Playhouse, More Pies and Zoom!He has also illustrated his own books, and such popular titles asOonga Boonga. Michael loves to include sub-plots and visual jokes in his books watch for the chickens in Playhouse,and see if you can spot Michael and Robert Munsch at the bus stop in More Pies!

Author: Robert Munsch (Canadian author)Illustrator: Michael Martchenko (Canadian Illustrator)Format:PaperbackProduct dimensions: 32pgs,10.03″ x 8.02″ x 0.11″Published: September 1, 2006Publisher: Scholastic Canada Inc.

Recommended for ages 3-8.