Module 1 - Love You Forever

January 14-20, 2013

Love You Forever

Bibliography:

Munsch, Robert N. (1992). Love you forever. Scarborough, Ont.: Firefly Books.

Summary:

A mother begins a love affair with her newborn son that extends through her entire life. When he is young, she sneaks into his room and tells him of her love for him, reassuring him that no matter what, he will always be her little baby. As he grows and needs her less, she still finds moments to rekindle the nurturer inside by sneaking into his room while he is sleeping and repeating the words she spoke to him as a child. As an adult she continues this practice, driving across town and sneaking into his room to repeat the process. When she is no longer able to keep this up, her son, now a parent himself, turns the table and becomes the nurturer for his aging mother.

Impressions:

Personally, I thought this book was a little stalker-ish. All I could see was an overbearing mother not letting her little boy grow up. I just wanted her to cut the cord already. As a parent, I see the need to be the nurturer and keep your baby little for as long as possible but I hated that she seemed to not want to let that natural process happen. I would not want to make this a popular book in my household at bedtime.

Reviews:
 

This is one of my favorite books. In the beginning, a mother is rocking her baby, singing, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be." As the baby grows, he does many things that drive his mother crazy. He flushes her watch down the toilet, he listens to strange music. His mom feels like she's living in a zoo! But no matter how strange the boy's actions are, his mother still comes into his room each night while he is sleeping and sings to him. When I was a baby, my mom read to me. I still enjoy it when she does. I realize that even though we kids don't do everything right, parents will always love us. This is a fun book, and when I grow up, I plan to read it to my children.

Harrell, M. (1999). Love you forever. Storyworks, 6, 6.

This recording of 12 of picture-book author Munsch's most popular stories will likely prove a treat for his long-standing fans. However, the author's very high-energy storytelling style--featuring lots of guttural noises, bratty-sounding dialogue exchanges, exasperated rants and drawn-out, singsong pronunciation of certain words--will quickly wear thin for those beyond preschool. Munsch introduces each entry with a brief line of background and ends each one with "That's the end of that story"; more extensive information about each book can be found in the liner notes. Those already enamored of Love You Forever, Mortimer, The Paperbag Princess and other selections here will appreciate the recording's snippets of music, studio sound effects and kids' spontaneous participation. These added touches make this CD feel like a trip to a storytelling festival performance. A never-before-published story called "Growl" is also included as a bonus. Ages 2-up.

LOVE YOU FOREVER: The Best of Robert Munsch (Book). (2003). Publishers Weekly, 250(50), 29.

Uses:

In the library, I would use this book as a storytime read near Mother’s Day for classes of young elementary students.