Reading with the Little One: "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch
by Jenners • 02/09/2010 • Children's Books • 36 Comments
“Borrowed” from Amazon: 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.” 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.
I’m going to be perfectly honest: I found this book a bit off-putting and creepy. The Little One didn’t care for it that much either. A large part of what I didn’t like were the illustrations. I found the drawings of the people almost disturbing and somewhat out of proportion. Plus, the whole concept of the book struck me as odd. Let’s take a little tour through the book, shall we?
This drawing is on the cover and one of the opening pages. The Little One was horrified. “Why is that baby allowed to play in the bathroom alone and make such a big mess?” I had to agree with him; there seems to be poor supervision here. And neither one of us found this child appealing or cute.
The drawing above is from when the “boy” is a man and lives in his own house. His mother drives across town in the middle of the night and:
If all the lights in her son’s house were out, she opened his bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the side of his bed. If that great big man was really asleep, she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
OK. Now this is just downright weird and creepy. She is breaking into her son’s bedroom in the middle of the night, crawling around on the floor and then rocking him? If you woke up and your mother was crouched by your bed—having crawled into your bedroom window in the middle of the night—wouldn’t you think something was seriously wrong with her? And look—she brought her own ladder!! I’m sorry, I don’t find this cute or touching; I’m thinking mental illness here.
Aside the from the creep factor, the proportion in this drawing just bothers me. Look at that cat! And how would a little old woman get a sleeping man into this position without waking him up? Is he an Ambien addict? There are just so many things to think about with this picture.
I shall spare you the drawing of the grown man rocking what I took to be the corpse of his dead mother two pages on. The Little One was upset by this page and asked a lot of uncomfortable questions. And you know how the book ends right? The son (who must have been aware of this whole nighttime rocking song the entire time, even though he was allegedly fast asleep) continues this tradition with his baby daughter. Good luck explaining your breaking and entering into your grown daughter’s bedroom to rock and sing to her, Mister!
I know this book is a “classic” children’s book and I understand the sentiments, but frankly I found the book creepy and the drawings disturbing. And I know I’m not the only one who feels this way about the book.
Have you read this book? Do you find it charming or creepy?
This book counts toward my 451 Challenge. I got it from Paperback Swap, and I plan on swapping it back out. This isn’t one I feel we need to keep.
I loved this book as kid my grandma would always read it to me. I never found it creepy until i read the review at the top i feel if the discription was blown out of proportion. It was meant to be a cute book and show the love of a mother and a child.
I hope my thoughts on the book didn’t ruin your memories of it. Perhaps if I had read the book when I was younger, I wouldn’t have felt this way. I was just taken aback by it. I know how it was meant but I think it unintentionally can be seen another way. And I do think that better illustrations might have helped!
This book is my favoritve book in the world u all are just F****ing crazy
Glad you enjoy it so much. It just didn’t work for me!
I have always look at it from the perspective of unconditional love to make sense of the story. Take a look at this piece of news with the accompanying picture that happened in a hospital in Taiwan. http://www.ettoday.net/news/20120303/28988.htm
LOL–seems I'm also in the minority. I don't think that I liked this book so much when I was little–I much preferred Munsch's other books which were fully nonsense (love The Paperbag Princess), but I see this book as more for the parents. I usually give it to my friends who are new mothers but it never occured to me that I was giving it to them so they could read to their kids but rather to the mother for herself. Hmmm?
This book was really popular among a lot of people I knew growing up. I always thought it was kind of corny. Not creepy, I didn't think about it that closely- just corny.
What an entertaining post. I have only read this book once in my 9 years of parenting. It made me cry too much (probably has something to do with my mom dying before I had kids). So, I keep it, but I never opened it again and I have never read it to my second daughter. But, many of my friends say that it is creepy. I can see that too.
I AGREE! This book always creeped me out (not quite as much as you, though) but everyone else I worked with at preschool loved it. It was the adult man part that did me in. I thought about it when I watched the 'Sex and the City' episode where Charlotte's mother in law comes into their room in the middle of the night to smear cough ointment on her adult son's chest, with her daughter in law right there beside him.
I'm in the minority as well. I guess I've always found it kind of goofy and amusing rather than creepy all the crawling around, thinking you could actually rock a kid(and adult) without waking them, and driving across town with the ladder to your adult son's home.
I don't take the story telling too literally either or take all that transpires too serious but rather take to heart the theme of loving and passing that love on as well as the circle of life in a softer, less harsh setting for kids to understand. My kids love the little song when we read the book.
Just my two cents…
Nina
YOU ARE HILLARIOUS!
I love this book. But, your perspective was a crack up!
Great post! We have/had this book, not a favorite of my kids. I used to recite the verse and they would yell back at me, "I'm not going to rock you when you're old". It is now a family joke…they are young adults now and I warn them to be careful or they will be rocking me when I'm old.
I've managed to avoid reading this, although I recognize the cover.
Why is the son still sleeping in a twin bed when he's in his own home as an adult? And who shrank the cat?!
OK, Jenners, it's late and I'm heading up to bed now. I'll double-check the locks on the windows before I get in bed, and will scout for ladder-prints in the snow in the morning. If I have nightmares … I'm blaming you!
I'll join the minority here in saying that this is one of my favorites. Sure, it's a little ludicrous at times, but that's part of the charm. (for us, at least)
Your review put it in a whole new perspective, LOL!!! I still love it, though!
Oh…and thanks to Brimful Curiosities for including the link to the book's origins. Sad story.
Oh, thank God I'm not alone in feeling like this book is creeptastic. His mother sneaks into his bedroom when he's an adult and rocks him? And we're supposed to think that's normal? *heebie jeebies*
Though the ending when he rocks her always gets me.
I first learned of this book while watching an episode of Friends. I actually don't mind the book, and I don't try to over analyze it. Have you read about the origins? Very sad story. http://www.robertmunsch.com/books.cfm?bookid=40
I do very much like the poem part and sing that to my children.
Wow. I've never actually thought about it that way. I don't know how many times I've read this book or had it read to me, and I always bawl like a baby.
My parents even gave it to me for my college graduation.
But, looking at it the way you did, it is kind of creepy. I shall have to pull it off the shelf tonight and look at it again…
This is totally CREEPY but so bad it also makes me laugh. I can picture something like this on SNL or Mad TV because it is too ridiculous to be real, right? And that little tiny cat is just scaring me!!
The Children's Bookseller blog, ShelfTalker, on PW, had a hilarious post about this book a couple of years ago that still ranks as on of their most commented posts ever. Check it out here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/660000266/post/1090025909.html
They call it the most divisive children's book ever written! I vote with the creepy crowd.
Verrrry creepy. And you wonder how clean the bathroom is. Ugh.
Well, I am obviously in the minority here, but my kids loved the book. In fact, when my son left home at the age of 18 I wrote him a note and included — I'll love you forever, I'll like you forever, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be. He responded with an equally touching letter that said "as long as I'm living my mommy you'll be." I will cherish it forever.
I love Love You Forever. I gave it to my son on his 21st birthday…LOL
Outright Creepy !! I am not even going to discuss what I am feeling after seeing those illustrations. What are they trying to convey through this book.
Maybe this book would be better if the pictures were different? I don't know, I personally hate this book. I have always thought it was creepy. Leave it to you to highlight it. I enjoyed reading all the comments left, it is funny how different people view the same thing. Good idea for a post. What books did you read to the little one when he was 2 and 3?
Maybe this book would be better if the pictures were different? I don't know, I personally hate this book. I have always thought it was creepy. Leave it to you to highlight it. I enjoyed reading all the comments left, it is funny how different people view the same thing. Good idea for a post. What books did you read to the little one when he was 2 and 3?
This book appears in an episode of Friends where Joey reads it at Emma's first birthday party, everyone thinks it is lovely and it makes Chandler cry. I assumed it was invented. Never come across it, but have to agree from the pictures you show I would definitely avoid, it has certainly crossed the line into mawkish.
thanks for sharing
martine
I'm so glad to see that you thought it was creepy too! I was trying to imagine what semi-tactful comment I could have left if you had thought it was a sweet and wonderful book.
I do know some people that love it – one of them gave it to us as a gift for the birth of our first son. It managed to get lost somehow in the shuffle.
I've never seen this book before. I don't think I was missing anything. Yes…it is VERY creepy. I will always love my sons, no matter how big/old they get, but rock them? NO!!
hi there! I have an award for you on my blog – please stop by!
http://booksnyc.blogspot.com/2010/02/milestone-awards-and-giveaway.html
YES! JENNERS! YES YES YES!
I have always, always since I was a child myself found this book creepy. And I agree with Kristen M. about the message. The same thing pissed me off about The Giving Tree, you know? The moral seems to be "Take take all you want and then take some more."
I had never heard of this book until Valentine's Day last year when one of Z's preschool teachers read it to the class. I teared up but only because the teacher sang a version of the song each time and it was really sweet.
The story itself did two things to me — creeped me out and pissed me off. Creeped me out that the mother was so needy and pissed me off that the son only showed her love when she was on her deathbed. The rest of the time he just trashed things and ignored her. Nice message.
I love this book and read it with my children often.
Plus, his face looks the same in all the pictures. It's like he started off with the face of a 6 year old, and the face stayed that way.
I know women who adore this book and give it as baby shower gifts. I agree with you–it is creepy. I was reading your review and laughing hysterically. I have never read it to my kids because the mother's behavior is disturbing.
My mom bought this book for my kids when they were little. She thought it was precious. It gave me (and my kids) nightmares. Creepy almost doesn't even cover it. There is a serious mental illness at work in that house. I remember when it first came out, Oprah showed it on her show, and Teri Hatcher was on there. Oprah loved it (probably why my mom bought it) and Teri did not like it at all.
I read this book, or part of it to my kids too, and I just couldn't finish it, they didn't find it entertaining at all. After this, I read the books to myself first, before I read them to my kids. You are right this is a classic and an all time big seller?