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Love You Forever
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 editio...more
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 editio...more
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
September 1st 1995
by Firefly Books
(first published January 1st 1986)
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Love you forever, Stalk you for always . . . .
Ok, I don't want to get any hate mail from this review . . . let me say first that I understand this is an allegory about unconditional love between parent/child . . . but does this book come off a little creepy to anyone else?
1) It starts out ok . . . but about the time the kid gets to be a teenager I just start to feel uncomfortable. Would I be ok with my mom slipping into my teenage brothers' rooms while they're sleeping to cuddle and sing a lov...more
Ok, I don't want to get any hate mail from this review . . . let me say first that I understand this is an allegory about unconditional love between parent/child . . . but does this book come off a little creepy to anyone else?
1) It starts out ok . . . but about the time the kid gets to be a teenager I just start to feel uncomfortable. Would I be ok with my mom slipping into my teenage brothers' rooms while they're sleeping to cuddle and sing a lov...more
I finally read this, standing in front of the spinning display racks in the children's section of my local bookstore. I've been warned that this was a scary book, but I really did not understand how terrifying it is. This is screaming nightmare level scary, J-horror scary, what with all the crawling and unconscious cuddling that goes on. Seriously, is this what you want to see looking up from end of your bed?
Shudder. A woman cannot express her love for her destructive, active child while he is a...more
Shudder. A woman cannot express her love for her destructive, active child while he is a...more
95 likes · like · see review
May 30, 2012
babyhippoface
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
kids-picture-books
Okay, I realize I'm in the minority here, and I will admit that the first time I read it I went, "Aww... she loves her baby." But then I actually thought about it, and was completely freaked out by this book. This woman USES A LADDER TO CLIMB INTO HER GROWN SON'S WINDOW, PICKS HIM UP OUT OF BED AND HOLDS HIM WHILE HE SLEEPS. Do I need to repeat the "grown man" part? We've got breaking-and-entering here, along with the fact that we never once see this woman tell her son she loves him while he is,...more
23 likes · like · see review
Nov 14, 2007
Scott
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Creepy People
Shelves:
children
I didn't hate this book because it was too sappy. I like sappy sometimes. Here's what I didn't like about the book.
Where do I even begin? How about the cover? The cover makes it look like it's some sort of book about potty training or something. Awful choice.
Secondly the illustrations are hideous. Simply hideous.
Now lets talk about the writing. Repetitive and long-winded. "I'll like you for always" is just a terrible phrase.
The overall general creepiness is another reason I didn't like this bo...more
Where do I even begin? How about the cover? The cover makes it look like it's some sort of book about potty training or something. Awful choice.
Secondly the illustrations are hideous. Simply hideous.
Now lets talk about the writing. Repetitive and long-winded. "I'll like you for always" is just a terrible phrase.
The overall general creepiness is another reason I didn't like this bo...more
48 likes · like · see review
I generally dislike it when people rip apart beloved children's books. I tend to think they are just being contrary. But, now I think I get it. Some books just hit that nerve and won't stop. That's this book for me. I'll admit it - I cried the first time I read it. But then again, I was full of raging postpartum hormones! I think this is the most maudlin and emotionally manipulative book I've ever read. And I *hate* the illustrations. Just looking at the cover makes me cringe. Don't you think th...more
17 likes · like · see review
Dec 04, 2009
Dacia
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
No one - it's depressing
Shelves:
youngchildrens
This is the only children's book I've ever read that stuck me as more depressing than "The Giving Tree". My mother gave me a copy just before my son was born. I read it once and promptly lost to book. I don't think I could EVER read it to my son. It's so.... well.. sorta twisted. Yes it's about love, but it seems so unrealistic, and morbid. I know one day my son will grow up and leave, and I'll get old and die, but I'd rather not dwell on the subject.
As a child I found books on this subject ver...more
As a child I found books on this subject ver...more
12 likes · like · see review
Does this storybook creep the fuck out of anyone else?? I remember my mother reading this to my younger brother and years later to my nephew and it gave me chills every single time she'd sing that "love you forever" part.
It's basically the literary equivalent of that Psycho prequel with Henry Thomas. That's exactly what this book is...training wheels for your toddler to grow up as Norman Bates. You want your adult son coming in and picking you up from your deathbed to rock you in his arms and s...more
It's basically the literary equivalent of that Psycho prequel with Henry Thomas. That's exactly what this book is...training wheels for your toddler to grow up as Norman Bates. You want your adult son coming in and picking you up from your deathbed to rock you in his arms and s...more
42 likes · like · see review
Aug 08, 2007
Bill
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
kids,
avoid-at-all-costs
It reassures me to see so many people find this book as creepy and loathsome as I do. I know the lesson we're supposed to learn is that we never stop being the apples of our parents' eyes, but all I ever got out of it was that if you feel at all smothered by your parents, you better get used to it, because it will never end. Also, moms are inherently stalkery. And while I hope that wasn't the authorial intention here, I can't shake the feeling that maybe it really was.
13 likes · like · see review
I don't know how to rate this star-wise because I really can see how creepy (a common word in reviews for it I've noticed) and over-sentimental it is, but I can also see how sincere and profoundly universal its message is. Two sides, same coin...for me.
I stumbled upon a review of this in which Michelle called it creepier than American Psycho which made me laugh and subsequently click on the book to check it out further. Then I suddenly recognized the book from my childhood and remembered my mot...more
I stumbled upon a review of this in which Michelle called it creepier than American Psycho which made me laugh and subsequently click on the book to check it out further. Then I suddenly recognized the book from my childhood and remembered my mot...more
12 likes · like · see review
Jun 14, 2007
Alicia Krauchuk Fenton
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
kiddos
I just love this book. It is a bit on the "unusual" side, but that is just Munsch for ya. I first read this my Freshman year of college. I cried then and I cry when I read it to my girls. It's the intergenerational, unconditional love of mother/son and then father/daughter that I feel a strong connection with. The mother's corniness just adds to the tenderness of the book. I am touched by the mother's love for her son, the son's love for his mom, and then the son's love to his daughter...a breat...more
23 likes · like · see review
Feb 21, 2008
Books Ring Mah Bell
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
kidsbooks
ok... i have to admit when i first read this, i was fully engulfed in post partum hormonal mayhem. thus, i sobbed.
i broke this out last night to read to my son (who is now almost 3) and while the story is still touching, it's a little creepy when the mom drives across town - in the middle of the night - to hold her 40 year old son on her lap and sing to him. hmm??? did his wife find that okay? cause that would warrant a serious conversation, possibly the delivery of some divorce papers. "look h...more
i broke this out last night to read to my son (who is now almost 3) and while the story is still touching, it's a little creepy when the mom drives across town - in the middle of the night - to hold her 40 year old son on her lap and sing to him. hmm??? did his wife find that okay? cause that would warrant a serious conversation, possibly the delivery of some divorce papers. "look h...more
11 likes · like · see review
I love this book..............
My earliest memory of this book is my mom reading this aloud to my two year old self, and crying as she finished the last few pages. Now im the one who starts crying whenever i pull the book out and stare at the waterworn pages.
Anyone who's read this book knows the words that the mother is constantly saying to her son as he's sleeping-
I love you forever
I'll like you for always
As long as I'm living
My baby you'll be.
My mom made a tune for those words, and I cant im...more
My earliest memory of this book is my mom reading this aloud to my two year old self, and crying as she finished the last few pages. Now im the one who starts crying whenever i pull the book out and stare at the waterworn pages.
Anyone who's read this book knows the words that the mother is constantly saying to her son as he's sleeping-
I love you forever
I'll like you for always
As long as I'm living
My baby you'll be.
My mom made a tune for those words, and I cant im...more
21 likes · like · see review
Sep 06, 2007
Carrie Cohen
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
any parent
This is by far my absolute favorite book to read to or with my children. The first time, I could barely get through it, I cried so hard!
I still get misty eyed everytime I read it. Especially when the grown son carries his mother upstairs and rocks her to sleep.
I have to turn back to the page where grandma takes off in the station wagon, with the ladder hanging over the roof of the vehicle, whilst racing to her sons' house.
That helps soothe the waterworks.
Make a mental note to watch how the cat a...more
I still get misty eyed everytime I read it. Especially when the grown son carries his mother upstairs and rocks her to sleep.
I have to turn back to the page where grandma takes off in the station wagon, with the ladder hanging over the roof of the vehicle, whilst racing to her sons' house.
That helps soothe the waterworks.
Make a mental note to watch how the cat a...more
11 likes · like · see review
One star is too high for this book! I would have given it negative stars if possible. This is a story of a dysfunctional woman who only tells her child she loves him while he's asleep. He perpetuates the cycle with his daughter. The image of this old mother sneaking into her son's bedroom at night is just too weird, and the thoughts it presages of this man creeping into his teen daughter's bedroom someday are even worse! There are too many wonderful picture books celebrating familial love to was...more
11 likes · like · see review
I read this book every year to my Kindergartners--haven't made it through yet without crying! It's a great book to give to a new mom or dad. So different from the rest of Munch's silly books--same structure, though. I gave this book to my mom for mothers' day some years ago when I was young and really broke--but it was a great gift--she loved it!
10 likes · like · see review
Feb 09, 2008
Cecilia Burk Carter
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
j-and-ya-fic
Oh, Laura and Kay. I was just a-giggling when I received your comments. I was wondering if you'd be able to let my review ride without comment. :)
I tried twice to respond, but for some reason it wouldn't appear after I'd submitted it. I am un-daunted, though, so I'll try this way.
I admit I did tear-up once while reading this book, but it was after having already read it several times and that particular time I was very worried about my son's cancer. I appreciate and even agree with the sentiment...more
I tried twice to respond, but for some reason it wouldn't appear after I'd submitted it. I am un-daunted, though, so I'll try this way.
I admit I did tear-up once while reading this book, but it was after having already read it several times and that particular time I was very worried about my son's cancer. I appreciate and even agree with the sentiment...more
2 likes · like · see review
This book makes me cry every single time I read it. A friend gave it to me when my oldest son was born, and a parent educator that taught a class that I took when both of my kids were babies had made up a little tune to the song. She sang it at "storytime" during every class. I don't think the mom in the book is "creepy" like some people do. I see this more as magical realism, not that it's trying to advocate that people actually climb in their grown children's windows.
8 likes · like · see review
I looked at a few of the reviews on this one. It seems like people who read it either find themselves moved or skeeved out. Place me among the latter category.
I have an aunt who, among a long list of weird things, taught me at a very young age to call her mom and paraded me around town telling people I was her son. And it wasn't like my mother was dead or nothing, and mother understandably had problems with this when she found out.
Anyway, this aunt gave me this book for Christmas when I was 18...more
I have an aunt who, among a long list of weird things, taught me at a very young age to call her mom and paraded me around town telling people I was her son. And it wasn't like my mother was dead or nothing, and mother understandably had problems with this when she found out.
Anyway, this aunt gave me this book for Christmas when I was 18...more
3 likes · like · see review
Dec 14, 2008
Dottie
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
No one
Shelves:
1967-1997
This is one of the absolute worst books aimed at children that I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. It is a sick message rather than the cozy, warm and loving one purported. I've never recommended it in the decade since I first heard it read to a class with which I worked as an aide and never shall. The idea that a parent is always a parent and will love a child is okay as far as it goes but there are many side tangents to that concept and this book is not a good choice for relaying the un...more
4 likes · like · see review
I too received this book as a gift to share with my child. I cannot stand the whole premise of this book. Do you think children are comforted by the idea of someone (even mom) entering their bedroom (or house) while they're asleep?
If you want a book about undying love and generations passing down a family song - keep searching.
Creepy. Very creepy. No stars whatsoever.
If you want a book about undying love and generations passing down a family song - keep searching.
Creepy. Very creepy. No stars whatsoever.
5 likes · like · see review
This is supposed to be a touching children’s story, a tale of family love that comes full circle in a bitter-sweet irony, but, frankly, I found it to be…creepy. I get what it was going for, but the sentimental effect is kind of lost when we go from loving mom of infant and toddler to weirdly obsessed stalker mom of teenager and adult. There's a great country song that communicates the idea this was going for (and failed to convey). I can't remember what it's called, but it's about a son who is g...more
5 likes · like · see review
May 07, 2008
Rachel Jessen
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
children-s-books
We discovered this book when my oldest was in kindergarten. The teacher read it near Mother's Day. I was in the class that day, and it was all I could do to keep from crying right there in class.
Now, whenever my kids feel they need some cuddles, they bring the book to me, along with a kleenex or two. True story.
Now, whenever my kids feel they need some cuddles, they bring the book to me, along with a kleenex or two. True story.
6 likes · like · see review
Yikes. I can't stand this book. I think the illustrations are awful, and a picture book whose pictures don't have any artistic merit or "grab" for you is already at a serious disadvantage for appeal. And the story is creepy and overly sentimental. (Hard to find THAT combo in one book.)Yes, I know it's (probably?) supposed to be metaphoric, but the idea of mom crawling in a grown man's window to cradle his sleeping body and whisper a cloying, ineloquent earworm of a song in his ear is just. I. Ca...more
1 like · like · see review
shudder... eeeeh... bshhrrr... gggggh...
8 likes · like · see review
I continue to struggle with why so many people love this book with a fervor. Okay, it is nice that the son rocks the mother at the end. And yes, I'm sure that I will always have the feelings that my son is still my little boy who I will want to rock forever. And sure, I understand that the story is supposed to be metaphorical.
However, does the mother not understand boundaries? Clearly her son does not want to be rocked as an adolescent and young man and she has to crawl across the floor like a...more
However, does the mother not understand boundaries? Clearly her son does not want to be rocked as an adolescent and young man and she has to crawl across the floor like a...more
Dec 27, 2010
Suzanne Moore
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
childrens-books,
childrens-1001-3-plus
Although written for children, at their stage in life I LOVE YOU FOREVER, by Robert Munsch, may not hold as much sentimental value as it does for adults. This story’s message means more with age, because it makes us aware of the passing of time. One day the child is gone, and parents realize how true the saying was, ‘they grow up so fast.’ After visiting his feeble mother, the son now grown with a baby daughter of his own, pauses at the top of the stairs. Here adults relate to what he is thinkin...more
I loved this book. As a mother, your children are always your babies. When they are asleep you can see their innocence & wonder why the childish or teenage angst is so exhausting. And glad to have the respite of sleep. I certainly hope my sons will love me forever, but I doubt very much that they will go out of their way to nurture me in my old age. Trying to be superhuman & care for an aging mother & a son on the autistic spectrum is also exhausting. Sometimes I would like to pick m...more
6 likes · like · see review
Apr 27, 2011
Debbie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
youth-fiction,
kids-read
I got this several years ago at my kids school book fair and have read it so many times that it is difficult to count. The first time I read it, I read it out loud to my kids and about half way through it I started to cry. That left my kids wondering what was wrong with me or the story. I was finally able to get through the book (they still didn't know why I had cried) and the next time we read it I thought I was prepared for it. I wasn't. I cry or at least get a little emotional almost every ti...more
Apr 12, 2009
Ros Stanley
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
shared-with-my-kids
Got this book when my children were little. My eldest Chloe thought it was cute and silly when the mother climbed in to cuddle her son when he was a grown man but loved the message of unconditional, never ending love and the mischievous baby portrayed. Now it strikes a chord with all our family and remains a favourite because her baby brother is now 16 but impaired by severe autism and intellectual impairment, he really will be my baby forever, and I'll love him forever. The scary part is what w...more
My mom read this book to me when I was a child. It's about a mothers love for her little boy. He gets into trouble but she always tells him, "I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always. As long as your living by baby you'll be." In the end the message is switched and the little boy is taking care of his sick mother. He reats this message to his mother has she is lying in bed and rocking her to sleep. I think that this book would be good for younger students. You can do a lesson on emotions...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Improved and effective lost love spells caster+27765985740 | 1 | 4 | Mar 07, 2013 08:26am | |
| Affordable LOST LOVE SPELLS +27765985740 | 1 | 11 | Mar 07, 2013 08:21am | |
| Literal or Metaphoric? | 42 | 185 | Jan 28, 2013 09:36am | |
| the book | 23 | 90 | Dec 21, 2012 04:47pm |
Robert Munsch was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 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.
He studied to become a Jesuit priest, but decided he would rather work with children after jobs at orphanages and daycare centers. In 1973, he received a Master of Education in Chil...more
More about Robert N. Munsch...
He studied to become a Jesuit priest, but decided he would rather work with children after jobs at orphanages and daycare centers. In 1973, he received a Master of Education in Chil...more
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“I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living,
my baby you'll be.”
—
168 people liked it
More quotes…
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living,
my baby you'll be.”
Mar 16, 2013 08:50am
May 12, 2013 07:33am