20 Years Later, Fredericton Woman Reflects on the Day She Became a Robert Munsch Character
Two decades ago, a birthday lunch in Fredericton turned into a storybook moment that would live on forever — literally.
Victoria Campbell, now 27, was just six years old when a surprise encounter with beloved Canadian children’s author Robert Munsch at the Lord Beaverbrook Hotel became the inspiration for his 2013 book Swamp Water.
“It was my birthday, and my grandmother took me out to a fancy restaurant,” Campbell recalled. “We were the only ones there — and sitting right beside us was Robert Munsch.”
Starstruck, the young Victoria whispered to her grandmother that she recognized the author, famous for classics like The Paper Bag Princess and Love You Forever. Munsch, dining nearby before a performance at Fredericton’s Playhouse, soon came over to introduce himself and sign her books.
What neither of them knew was that the meeting would spark a story that Munsch later told live on stage — about a little girl named Victoria who went out to lunch with her grandmother.
“There I was, making up a story just 10 minutes before a show,” Munsch later wrote on his website.
Unable to contact her directly, Munsch reached out through the local Daily Gleaner newspaper with the headline “Victoria, read this story!” The message worked — Campbell got in touch, and the two began exchanging letters.
Originally titled Victoria’s Lunch, the tale evolved into Swamp Water — named after the concoction of cola, orange soda, ginger ale, root beer, and chocolate milk that the fictional Victoria orders. The playful story celebrates childhood imagination and the special bond between a girl and her grandmother.
When Campbell was 15, Munsch sent her early illustrations, and by 2013, the story was officially published.
“He was so friendly and kind,” said Campbell, who now works as a clinical microbiology technologist at Fredericton’s Chalmers Hospital. “Those memories will always stick with me.”
Her grandmother has since passed away, but the memory of that day — and the book that came from it — remains one of Campbell’s most treasured keepsakes.
Now, as friends and colleagues begin having children, Campbell says she often gifts Swamp Water to new parents.
“It’s such a great legacy,” she said. “Robert Munsch’s stories are still being read today — and I feel so lucky that one of them is mine.”
Though Robert Munsch, now 80, has retired from writing after revealing his dementia and Parkinson’s diagnoses, he once said, “My stories will be the last thing to go.” For Campbell — and generations of readers — they haven’t gone anywhere.
