Module 1- Love You Forever

Module 1 Love You Forever

A.      Love You Forever takes you through time following a young boy and his mom through the stages of childhood into adult hood and then to the end of a life. The boy changes as his life ages but the mom’s love stays true up until the end of the book where there is a very poignant switching of roles. This book will make you cry and sigh, and then call and spend some time with loved ones you haven’t appreciated in awhile. Read it with a box of Kleenex! 

B.      Munsch, R. (1986). Love you forever. Ontario: Firefly Books.

C.      Love You Forever by Robert Munsch is a much loved classic… by adults. I honestly do not know one child who enjoys that book and I know hundreds of children of all ages. I myself can’t stand the emotional rollercoaster I embark upon every time I glance at the cover. Forget opening it- Love You Forever launches my heart into my throat merely upon gazing upon the cover! The book has the one overriding quality that most children’s books have and most children need- repetition! The language and phrases of the book repeats a lot. The boy was “growing and growing” on every other page and of course the most well loved portion of the book that repeats “I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always. As long as I’m living my baby you’ll be.” This book is not a favorite of mine and is not something I’m likely to read to any students or children of my own. I’d be lying though if I said it didn’t make me immediately call my mom to tell her I love her.

D.      Anonymous. (1999, December 14). Moving story about loving your child (Review of the book Love you forever). Amazon.com Customer Reviews. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/ review/R1NTRRFGUVAHET/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0920668364&nodeID=283155&store=books.

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!

E.       I can honestly say that I would NEVER read this book aloud in my library at the risk of completely breaking down in front of students and teachers. It’s too much of a risk for embarrassment! I would however use it as a showcase book to go with a mother’s day unit. I have this idea to promote books during mother’s day week in May for students to take home and enjoy with their mothers and/or grandmothers as part of a community outreach to promote the holiday. Book marks could be included inside the feature literature suggesting activities the students could do with their mothers to celebrate them.