Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

Children's Fiction General

Munsch at Play

Eight Stage Adaptations for Young Performers

by (author) Irene N. Watts

original author Robert Munsch

Publisher
Annick Press
Initial publish date
Feb 2010
Category
General
Recommended Age
6 to 9
Recommended Grade
1 to 4
Recommended Reading age
6 to 9
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781554512300
    Publish Date
    Feb 2010
    List Price
    $24.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781554513123
    Publish Date
    Feb 2010
    List Price
    $24.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

In this new collection of plays based on the stories of Robert Munsch, experienced playwright Irene Watts has adapted eight of his best-loved tales for the stage, classroom or backyard! Complemented by funny, energetic illustrations, including those of long-time Munsch collaborator Michael Martchenko, each story is presented in an accessible play format, making it easy for children to act out their own versions of the adventures of Angela, Elizabeth, Mortimer, and others.

These lively, interactive adaptations include suggestions to encourage audience participation, as well as casting ideas that can involve the whole class. Innovative, uncomplicated (and inexpensive!) ideas for props and costumes can also be found. The stories included are:

• Angela’s Airplane • Stephanie’s Ponytail • Mortimer • 50 Below Zero • Mud Puddle • Millicent and The Wind • Murmel, Murmel, Murmel • The Paper Bag Princess

About the authors

In 1968 Irene N. Watts came to Canada from Britain, where she had arrived thirty years earlier from Germany, via Kindertransport. She is a writer/playwright, theatre director, and educator. Her plays for young audiences have been widely produced. Awards include a Vancouver Theatre Alliance Jessie Richardson for Goodbye Marianne (Scirocco Drama and Anchorage Press, U.S.); the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People; the Isaac Frischwasser Memorial Award (Helen and Stan Vine Canadian Jewish Book Awards, 1999 and 2001); the Government of Alberta Achievement Award for Outstanding Service to Drama. Irene is a Lifetime Member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada. Recent publications include Tapestry of Hope: Holocaust Writing for Young People, compiled with Lillian Boraks-Nemetz (Tundra Books).

Irene N. Watts' profile page

El reconocido narrador ROBERT MUNSCH ha escrito decenas de libros para niños, entre ellos: Paper Bag Princess y Mortimer. Él vive con su familia en Guelph, Ontario.

Robert Munsch's profile page

Editorial Reviews

“The suggestions … should prove to be excellent examples for students to develop their own dramatic interpretations of their favourite narratives.”

Resource Links, 06/10

Librarian Reviews

Munsch at Play: Eight Stage Adaptations for Young Performers

The eight wonderful plays in this collection — adapted from Robert Munsch books — require minimal sets, props and costumes and can be performed by small groups or whole classes. Irene Watts incorporates many drama conventions into her staging suggestions (e.g., tableau, mime, soundscapes, etc.), which makes this a useful resource for teachers with limited experience in drama and shows teachers how easily stories can become drama performances.

Source: The Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Best Books for Kids & Teens. 2011.

Other titles by

Other titles by