Love You Forever is a 1986 children's picture book written by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Sheila McGraw. The story centers on a mother who sings a lullaby to her son at each stage of his life. During his childhood, she becomes frustrated with her son's rebellious nature, yet always sings to him after he falls asleep. The mother and son grow older, with the former becoming sick due to old age, and one day unable to sing the lullaby. The son sings the song for her, then sings it to his newborn daughter.
The story details the cycle of life by chronicling the experiences of a young son and his mother throughout the course of the boy's life and describing the frustrating behavior exhibited by him throughout his youth.
When the son is first born, his mother sings a brief lullaby promising to always love him:
I'll love you forever
I'll like you for always
As long as I'm living
My baby you'll be
Despite her occasional aggravation caused by her son's behavior at two years old, nine years old, and as a teenager, the mother nonetheless visits his bedroom nightly to cradle him in her arms and sing the lullaby. After the son grows up and moves across town, his mother occasionally drives across town and sneaks into his bedroom at night to croon her customary lullaby.
However, the mother gradually grows old and frail, and she calls her son one day and tells him to see her since she is very old and sick. When the son first arrives, his mother tries to sing her lullaby to him, but she gets halfway through since she is too old and sick to finish. The son then cradles his mother in his arms and sings the lullaby for her in reciprocation for the unconditional love that she had shown him throughout his life, changing the last line to: "My Mommy you'll be."
After returning home, the son pauses at the top of the stairs for a long moment (perhaps grieving the death of his mother). He then goes into the nursery, cradles his newborn daughter, and sings his mother's signature lullaby for her, implying that the cycle will continue.
Creation
The book was written after Munsch and his wife had two stillborn babies.[1] It began as a song that Munsch would sing in his head for his two babies as singing it out loud was too emotional. During a performance at a theatre in the University of Guelph, the short song turned into a full story that was later published as a book.[2]
Munsch and his wife have since adopted three children.[3]
Reception
Love You Forever was listed fourth on the 2001 Publishers Weekly All-Time Bestselling Children's Books list for paperbacks at 6,970,000 copies (not including the 1,049,000 hardcover copies).[4] In 2001, Maria Shriver wrote in O, The Oprah Magazine: "I have yet to read this book through without crying. It says so much about the circle of life, youth, parenting, and our responsibility for our parents as we grow older. The message is so simple yet so profound. Love You Forever is a great gift for anyone with a child, or even for your own parents."[5] Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children."[6]
Some readers dislike the portion of the story where the mother sneaks into her grown son's home. One Publishers Weekly reviewer states that Love You Forever is a divisive children's book. "Either it moves you to tears and you love it, or it makes your skin crawl and you detest it..."[7] A commentator wrote "it's either a touching account of a mother's unending love or the ultimate helicopter parenting gone bad."[8]
In 2020, playwright Topher Payne released an alternate ending for the book, which he titled Love You Forever & I'll Call Before I Come Over, with art in the style of the original. In Payne's version, the son installs security bars on his windows; he subsequently explains to his mother that although he still loves her, he also needs personal space. Payne subsequently stated that "taken as metaphor, Love You Forever is beautiful, a mother's devotion. Taken literally, the mother is a little nuts." [9]
Media appearances
The book is prominently featured in the Friends episode "The One with the Cake". In the episode, Joey performs a dramatic reading of the book at Emma's first birthday (as he had forgotten to get a present and saw the book nearby), moving everyone to tears. Joey later realizes that he has forgotten to prepare for an upcoming audition and decides to recite the book as a dramatic monologue.
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