Kristen’s parents just can’t seem to do anything right. First they have their baby at the zoo, not in a hospital. Then they accidentally bring home an alligator baby! After it bites everyone on the nose, they return to the zoo and come back with a seal baby! Kristen sees that she will have to solve this problem herself. She bikes to the zoo and finds their baby with . . . a gorilla mommy. Kristen sees her chance – and takes back her baby brother!

Robert Munschis 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.

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 Martchenkohas 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 PiesandZoom!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 inPlayhouse,and see if you can spot Michael and Robert Munsch at the bus stop inMore Pies!

Author: Robert Munsch (Canadian author)Illustrator: Michael Martchenko (Canadian illustrator)Format:PaperbackProduct dimensions: 32 pages, 10.01″ x 8.07″ x 0.11“Published: September 1, 1997Publisher: Scholastic Canada Inc.Recommended for ages 3-7.