Munsch's wife delivered two stillborn babies in 19. In Guelph he was encouraged to publish the many stories he made up for the children he worked with. He also taught in the Department of Family Studies at the University of Guelph as a lecturer and as an assistant professor. In 1975 he moved to Canada to work at the preschool at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario.
In 1973, he received a Master of Education in Child Studies from Tufts University. He studied to become a Jesuit priest, but decided he would rather work with children after jobs at orphanages and daycare centers. He graduated from Fordham University in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and from Boston University in 1971 with a Master of Arts degree in anthropology. Robert Munsch was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.