Love You Forever [Hardcover]

Robert Munsch (Author), Sheila McGraw (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1995 | Age Range: 1 and up | Lexile Measure: 780L (What's this?)

A young woman holds her newborn son
And looks at him lovingly.

Softly she sings to him:
"I'll love you forever
I'll like you for always
As long as I'm living
My baby you'll be."

So begins the story that has touched the hearts of millions worldwide. Since publication in l986, Love You Forever has sold more than 15 million copies in paperback and the regular hardcover edition (as well as hundreds of thousands of copies in Spanish and French)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The mother sings to her sleeping baby: "I'll love you forever / I'll love you for always / As long as I'm living / My baby you'll be." She still sings the same song when her baby has turned into a fractious 2-year-old, a slovenly 9-year-old, and then a raucous teen. So far so ordinary--but this is one persistent lady. When her son grows up and leaves home, she takes to driving across town with a ladder on the car roof, climbing through her grown son's window, and rocking the sleeping man in the same way. Then, inevitably, the day comes when she's too old and sick to hold him, and the roles are at last reversed. Each stage is illustrated by one of Sheila McGraw's comic and yet poignant pastels. (Ages 4 to 8) --Richard Farr

Review

There are certain books about a parent's unconditional love for a child that are timeless--and this is one of them. (Baltimore's Child 20100120)

One of my all-time favorites. I cry every time I read it.... [The book] is a beautiful script about parenthood, a poignant parable about life and death, a testimony to when the roles of child and parent become blurry. The story reminds you that no matter how grown up you are, you're always someone's child; that no matter how "adult" you are, you're never too old to be loved by your parents. It makes me appreciate even more how my mother still calls me and my brother (despite us being 32- and 22-years-old, respectively) by our childhood nicknames, Pussycat and Tchotchke (Yiddish for "knickknack"). Pigeonholing this as a children's book is like saying "Romeo & Juliet" is merely a cautionary tale about drug abuse. I dare anyone to read this story and not shed at least one tear by the end. It's even more poignant when you learn that Munsch wrote the book as a memorial to two still-born children he and his wife had in 1979 and 1980. (Dana Lenetz Forbes 20100420)

The one book that has the most meaning to me. (David Maloof Boston Globe 20020915)

There is a powerful, age-old resonance to the story, centered on that intangible, steadfast bond between mother and child. (Shelley Fralic National Post 20060515)

No one can read this without the tears falling. (Sharon Owen Madera Tribune 20030508)

The best of Munsch's many storybooks... it'll give you a new song to sing... and maybe a bit of perspective down the road. (Leanne Dohy Calgary Herald 20030925)

The starting point for a first-rate library for your grandchildren... a tender ode to the life cycle of a family. (John Lownsbrough Outlook Magazine 200406)

Sentimental story that has long been a favorite gift at baby showers. (Karen T.Bilton Bridgewater Courier News 20050426)

This best-selling classic of a parent's enduring love is available in a gift edition: slipcased with a laminated box and a clothbound book. (BookPage 200611)

A humorous, sentimental page-turner that rarely -- let's say never -- leaves a reader with a dry eye. (Gayle MacDonald Globe and Mail 20051201)

#5 on Instructor's "Teachers Pick the Top 50 Kids Books Ever", chosen by 200 teachers, authors, and children's literature experts. (Instructor 20061101)

My children and I enjoyed it, night after night, for years... It is a charmer. The simple story touches the heart. (Jeith L. Runyon Louisville Courier-Journal 20051113)

Robert Munsch's beloved tale is gentle affirmation of the love a parent feels for her child -- forever. Nurtured by the unconditional love of his parent, a boy grows happily through the stages of childhood to become, in turn, a loving adult. (BookPage 20080104)

This book is beyond emotional. I dare any mother out there, or any child with an aging parent, to read this story and not have a lump in your throat... Should definitely be apart of your child's book collection. (community.cafelibri.com 20100701)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 1 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Firefly Books; 1st edition (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0920668364
• ISBN-13: 978-0920668368
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 0.3 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,563 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Family Life > Parents
  • #5 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Emotions & Feelings
  • #6 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Sleep

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

343 of 394 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful, Touching Parable February 3, 2001

By Mark Jones VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

This little classic is readily and easily digested by one who has known the true love of a mother. My mother gave me this book during the first Christmas with my new baby daughter in 1992. I had no idea that within the year, my father would be gone, and I would begin to give tender care to my precious little mother who would begin "getting very sick" much like the mother in the book. I cried a bucket of tears as I read it aloud with my wife, mother and father for the very first time. When my mom passed on, it was a tender and precious time at her bedside, and very reminiscent of this tender little book.

Today, my two girls go for it regularly on my shelf at bedtime. They tease me because I can't get through it without crying. Funny to me that they have a very good grasp of allegory and they, unlike some of the book's critics, understand that the scenes with the mother coming to the man's apartment are actually his memories of her love. They understand, as I explain to them that the love poured into the son by his mother, has taught him how to love his new baby daughter at the end.

Love begets love, and this little childrens' parable is a powerful reminder! I highly recommend _Love You Forever_ to anyone who enjoyed a wonderful love with their mother. To others, I'm sorry but you simply won't (and obviously don't) understand. It's not written for you.

44 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My granddaughter used this in the euology for her mom November 23, 2005

By Cynthia Theard

Format:Paperback

My daughter in law read this to her children from birth. Every night. They are 16 and 18 now. Hurricane Katrina came and in fleeing from the rising water, their mother was killed. We did not get her body back until Nov. 18. All this time we have been searching and grieving. For the memorial service my granddauther wrote the euolgy and started it with "I'll love you forever / I'll love you for always / As long as I'm living / My baby you'll be." My mom read this to me every night etc. And at the end, with everyone crying and hearts breaking, she read "I'll love you forever / I'll love you for always / As long as I'm living / My mommy you'll be." When she went to the flooded house recently she found the book, wet, nasty with mud, but she found the book she treasured to remember her mom.

105 of 124 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving Story about Loving Your Child December 14, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This is a fantastic picture book that is a metaphor for the overwhelming love one feels for their child (no matter what age). For all of those readers who can only read in co-dependent, Oedipal, or Freudian themes into this book, you have missed the entire point and have hearts of stone! The fact is that the author Robert Munsch wrote this book as a tribute to his TWO still-born children and that makes this story even more moving especially if you've lost a child or had a miscarriage. The story is an expression of imagining his kids and what they would have been like and how much he would have loved them their whole lives. I found this to be a very emotional and touching story (and I am not a sentimental woman at all). My 3-year-old, rough and tumble, only-loves-the-outside-and-trucks kind of boy really likes this story and has been requesting it for bedtime almost every night. He especially enjoys the verse that is the theme of the book, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as you're living, my baby you'll be." My son wants to hear us say that to him. And again to all those who wrote and thought that this book was "sick"; face it, you might not have liked how this book was portrayed, but you'll love your kids forever, no matter how old they'll get, and in spite of what they will do throughout the phases of their lives that might frustrate you. In fact, my husband likes this story so much that he plans to get it for his mother for Mother's Day. This is a must-have children's book!