Giant or Waiting for the Thursday Boat
book by Robert Munsch
Giant or Waiting for the Thursday Boat is a children's book by Canadian author Robert Munsch and illustrated by Gilles Tibo, first published in 1989 by Annick Press. Due to depictions of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God as a little African American girl, as well as threats of violence against God by the titular Giant, it was challenged or removed from school libraries in Canada.
Plot
McKeon, the last Giant in Ireland, is upset at Saint Patrick driving out not only the snakes, but also elves, giants, and all the other mythical creatures. In retaliation, McKeon begins throwing church bells into the ocean. Saint Patrick, upset, tells McKeon to take up his issue with God who will be arriving "on the Thursday boat". McKeon sits down to wait, but the first craft that arrives is a small boat carrying a little girl. Deciding that this cannot be God, McKeon invites her to sit with him as he waits. Other boats arrive, but none of them are carrying God. Upset, he takes the little girl and leaps straight into Heaven. There, he confronts Saint Patrick and the two go searching for God to settle the dispute.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Giant or Waiting for the Thursday Boat” is book by Robert Munsch. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Giant, Waiting and Thursday, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “book by Robert Munsch” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 19, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q23307332. VIAF identifies the subject as 311552975. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1989.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Giant or Waiting for the Thursday Boat”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Giant or Waiting for the Thursday Boat primary sources, Giant or Waiting for the Thursday Boat archive and Giant research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Giant or Waiting for the Thursday Boat”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Giant or Waiting for the Thursday Boat” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.