Module 1 - Love You Forever, by: Robert Munsch

PLOT: This is a book about mother’s true love for her child and the reciprocating love a child has for his mother.  Regardless of all mishaps a child might do, she unconditionally loves her child.  She does this by sneaking into his room throughout his life and cradling him and sings a lullaby.  As she gets older she is unable to continue her ­­­­tradition of singing and cradling him, so her son, in the final stages of his mother’s life, picks her up and cradles her and sings her the lullaby.  He continues this tradition because in the end he cradles his newborn child and sings the ever so heartwarming lullaby to his child.


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

This is one of my favorite books and I enjoy reading it with my two little ones.  I get a kick out of the crazy things the boy does as he is growing up because my 21 year old did the exact same things.  From the parents point of view I love the part where she is driving with a ladder strapped to her car so that she could cuddle her adult son that has moved out and is living on his own.  That’s some motherly love.   The part that really tugs at me is when the son picks up his mom and reciprocates the actions back to her.  As parents we hope that we did our best to show our children that we love them no matter what and that in the end they will be there to take care of us.  I feel this is a great read for children, parents and soon to be parents. 

REVIEWS:  Forbes - Dana Lenetz - One of my all-time favorites. I cry every time I read it.... [The book] is a beautiful script about parenthood, a poignant parable about life and death, a testimony to when the roles of child and parent become blurry. The story reminds you that no matter how grown up you are, you're always someone's child; that no matter how "adult" you are, you're never too old to be loved by your parents. It makes me appreciate even more how my mother still calls me and my brother (despite us being 32- and 22-years-old, respectively) by our childhood nicknames, Pussycat and Tchotchke (Yiddish for "knickknack"). Pigeonholing this as a children's book is like saying "Romeo & Juliet" is merely a cautionary tale about drug abuse. I dare anyone to read this story and not shed at least one tear by the end. It's even more poignant when you learn that Munsch wrote the book as a memorial to two still-born children he and his wife had in 1979 and 1980.

Lenetz, D. [Review of the book Love you forever, by Robert Munsch]. Retrieved from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-you-forever-robert-n-munsch/1002322471?ean=9780920668375

USE IN THE LIBRARY: Grade levels 1^st -3^rd  -  This book could be used in an activity about family.  The students evaluate the book cover and explain how a mommy would react to this. As you read the book you could follow with a series of questions about things they may have done and their mommy might have felt upset.  They could discuss is they have a song or a special moment that they share. In the older grade levels they could even write a paper about something they did and how it was resolved with their mom.  To end the activity the students could draw a picture of their mom now (on one side of the paper) and what she would look like when she is older (on the other side of the paper).