I would say that this is a book written for mothers. I have two boys, and sometimes they ask me to read it to them. I'm always crying at the end and my boys are puzzled. Of course my husband thinks it's sappy, but hey he's a guy! He does not like it mostly because it talks about the boy using bad language and acting goofy(I do not like that part either, foul language is never use in our house) But I like the concept of the mother's unconditional love. That's my take of it. Yes most mommies don't drive at night and climb into your window in the middle of the night, but lets not forget that this is the same as having bunnies, and cows, and pigs, talking to each other and wearing clothes. It's a children's book, it lends itself to be a little out of reality and that's ok with me. I have given this book as gifts yo many first time mothers and they all had told me how much they liked it (and made them cry).

I first received this book when my 10-year old son was a baby. From a mother's point of view, I love it. It is a very sweet story of how much a mother loves her child. For those of you who have given it a negative review, what I find disturbing is the fact that you seem to think this is based on a true story. You are taking it much too literally. It is a fictional book with fictional characters. Yes, if some of the things in the book actually happened in real life, it would be a little strange, but surely people with a PhD can figure out the intention of the author and the point he trying to make....a mother who loves her child unconditionally and a son who returns that love as his mother grows old.

The first time I read this book was outloud to my son. I'd never read it before. I started crying while trying to finish reading it to him.

I had to read this book for one of my field experiences. While the toddlers loved it and were laughing, I thought this book was horrible. It was explained to me (and also in some of the positive reviews here) that it's only a metaphor. I think that is too easy of a label to stick onto something in which the author, Robert Munsch,is so obviously disturbed. I think most people agree when the Mom (now an elderly lady) drives across town with a LADDER on top of her car it truly crosses a line.
I would like to ask the people who think this book is only a harmless
metaphor in love, would you still adore this book and give it five
stars and endless kudos if the gender roles were reversed?

I could've given this book 'no stars', if that was
an option. When I have school librarians and PH.D's also posting
why they dislike this book, then I know this so-called classic
is really an exercise in the warped mind of the author.

Love You Forever
Written By Robert Munsch
Illustrated by Sheila McGraw

I loved this story from the first time I heard it. The tender love of a mother and her child.

When I gave this book to my mother for mothers day, she said, "You were never that much touble."

I suppose if you took it literally you might think it strange, but I take this book as a symbol of un-ending love.

Jill Ammon Vanderwood
Through the Rug
Through The Rug: Follow That Dog (Through the Rug)

I agree with the reviews that say this storyline is a little twisted. The mother running after her son until her weak old age and going to extremes to express her love. However, I don't think my kids thought anything of that. What I did have a problem with was the portrayal of a no good kid. As a toddler, He's flushing things down the toilet ( and my 7 year old thought that was especially funny...did I mention my toilet is behaving funny?!!)and he continues to be disrespectful and make various messes throughout the book with no apparent concern for his mother at all. I would have liked to have seen some positivity before he reached his own older age. Children not only watch everything we do, they can imitate the examples we allow them to be exposed to. I started to scribble out the lines to change it a little ( my kids will be able to tell if I am not consistently telling it the same way) but it was too much to change.This went in the trash!

This book is just beautiful. I remember the first time I heard this book. My husband and I was attending our 2nd child's pre-K orientation and the teacher read this book. I was 8 months pregnant with our 3rd and last baby and had lost my mother the year earlier. The words in the book touched my soul. My sister after hearing me talk about this book gave it to me for a gift. Some years later, when my oldest son and his wife had their first child, I gave my book to them. I purchased this book to save to give as a gift to my son who was just starting pre-K at the time when this book's story "message", was introduced to me ,when he begins his family. The shipping was quick and the book arrived in perfect condition.

I really think that people are over analyzing this book. It's a sweet book and it's meant for children. Yes, a little dramatized but all children books are. I mean, we read to them about animals and monsters. My mom read it to me and now I read it to my son. Nothing creepy unless you make out to be. I love this book but if you don't, just don't read it. No need for harsh criticism!!

Got tissue? You'll need it for this cute and touching little book. I bought it for my mom and my wife for Mother's Day. They both enjoyed it (they both cried, too!).

This is a book I've had for years. I first heard it read aloud in a school faculty meeting, and tears were flowing. It was meant to show the teachers how much every child means to their parents. I have since read this book to preschool grandchildren; they, surprisingly, did not miss the meaning. They enjoyed the messes the kid made, too! I continue to order this book for friends as a gift to remind them of the legacies that we leave with our children. They truly learn what they live! I ordered this one for new parents of a nephew. It's a great shower gift for a baby.

The lesson is to prescreen any children's book prior to reading it to my grandchildren. No matter who it comes from. As this came from a good friend who I thought was reasonably intact upstairs. From first opening the package, I wasn't certain what I would think. I love a beautifully illustrated children's book. This is far from beautifully illustrated, even prior to reaching the ick factor.
The song the mother sings is very sweet and certainly a testimony to love. Had I sung that to my babies and they had loved it, I would not hesitate to sing it to them as they were older or include the lyrics in a card or letter.
In spite of my disatisfaction with the cover and because my friend had raved about the book so much, I eagerly placed my grandson in my lap and rocked him as I read. I stopped and said "the end" as I reached the rather perverse page depicting the mother crawling across the floor to her sleeping teenage son's bed, staring at him and then lifting him into her lap. When I finished looking through the book later, I pondered what my own three grown sons reaction would have been to waking up to that in the dead of night as teens. When I got to the part of her taking a ladder across town to climb up his house and crawl through his window in the dead of night, I pondered my husband doing that to our two grown daughters. Explain that one to a passing law enforcement officer. Although as a middle aged woman myself, I must admire the strength the mom possesses. I would not be capable of lifting my adult sons into my lap without waking them.
I realize the intent of this book is to be a shining example of the unconditional love of a mother and child through the years. Surely there is a way to communicate that without being perverse. Considering the author is a man, I worry for his mother to son relationship growing up. It's amazing what one can think is normal if it's all they ever knew.

I wanted to share my experience with this book since I noticed many people stating that they thought this book was *creepy* and inappropriate for children.

My mom used to read this book to me when I was a child and I loved it. The part that I loved the best was short poem that is repeated. As a child I even began repeating the poem to my cat, whom I loved deeply. I was never creeped out by the book, nor did it leave me with any childhood trauma.

When I became a parent I purchased the book for my son. I am glad to be able to share this book with him as my mother shared it with me. And now that I am pregnant with my second child I will be purchasing a book for her as well.

I think this book is a lovely story about the love of a mother (and later on father) towards her child. You must not over-analyze the book or view it from an adult's point of view (honestly, if you analyzed Green Eggs and Ham the same way it would be seen as creepy as well). If you view this book as it is, a children's book, you will see the love and beauty of it.

Simple and beautiful with a powerful message for parents and kids.
one i will read to my kids and that they will no doubt read to theirs.
keep the tissues handy.

This is one of the sweetest books I have read. It brings laughter and tears to a mom. We have based a skit on this book which left the other mom's sighing!

I'm a pediatric nurse, and just came across this book on the job. I had no idea there was controversy! I was prepping a three year old for spinal surgery, and her parents were reading it to her. She seemed to like it and be comforted by it (though, to be fair, she WAS flying high on Versed at the time).

Me? I was kinda squicked. Maybe I'm too midwestern for this book, or something. The mom? Creeping on her belly to the teenager's bed? Yeah. That.

Two stars because the kid seemed to like it, and I guess that is the important thing. They were a very nice family, not weirdos at all, and were so happy to show the book to me...is it perhaps like a cult, and they were drawing me in?

I used to read this book to my daughters when they were little girls. Now they're all grown up and they send me e-mails and include the phrase from the book, "...as long as I'm living, my mommy you'll be". They never forgot this book. This book holds a very tender place in our hearts.

I have bought this book for all of my children and for everyone that I know who has had a baby, it is the best children's book ever in my opinion. Will make you laugh, will make you cry. Helps children to realize how much we love them, even when they are mischievious and that they are always our babies. Highly recommended!

Towards the end of the book, the mother drives across town in the dark of the night. She enters the home of her grown son. Mother hoists a ladder and comes through his window (note the long ladder strapped down on her car's roof). She crawls to his bed and checks to see if he is asleep. Finding him asleep, she grabs him and rocks him back and forth in her arms while singing a lullaby.

I'm sorry, but this book does a disservice to our youngsters by teaching inappropriate behavior. This mother needs to respect some reasonable boundaries. The behavior mentioned above just doesn't facilitate maturation of a grown man. I think mother is pretty much ruling out marriage or girlfriends for her son. Can you imagine the reaction of a woman to the behavior of this mother? Just think about it! Poor guy.

i have loved this book ever since i was young. its a story about unconditional love, how a parent will forever love their children no matter what they do or how old they get or how far away they move. after reading some of the other reviews, i have to say that there is nothing incestuous or morally disturbing about the book. it is about a mother's undying love for her son (this is not in the romantic sense). in fact i think you would have to be sick to warp something so innocent into something so twisted. is unconditional love so rare in society that a person cannot distinguish it from sexual love? must EVERYTHING revolve around sex? i don't know how disconnected some people are to their parents, or if they ever see their grandparents, but having a close family that care enough about you to take an active role in your life is a good thing. when i grow older i won't stop talking to my mother... in fact i may even give her a key to my house so that she may visit me whenever she wishes to do so, even if i live on the other side of town. she will wish to visit me because she cares about me and always will. what i think the more critical reviewers fail to grasp is that this is a story for children, meaning that if an author wants to convey an idea... like i'll love you forever, he'll do so in a way a child can understand. this can of course be twisted by people who watch too much news and are afraid of emotional contact. the sad thing is when the children start picking up on the adult's dirty mental processes and look at this story about how much a mother loves her baby, and sees something bad.
and as for the mother's death at the end of the book... this is not a terrifying way for a child to experience death (hopefully not for the first time). death is very much a part of life. all people will die eventually, which is something all people (even the small ones) must come to understand. and people face death every day of their lives. how do parents explain where hamburgers come from? i'm not advocating to brutally educate your children, i am only suggesting that keeping children ignorant of the basic facts of life is not helping them. if you can't talk to them about death (or for that matter, love between a mother and child), how are you going to talk to them about drugs and abusive relationships?
anyways, this is a touching, heart-warming story that should be enjoyed by all the people who can get their hands on it ^_^

I love this book. I just sent it to a friend who is expecting. Some of the reviews are confusing to me. The book is not to be taken so literally. It speaks of a love toward her child. I guess you like it for what it is or you don't. Oh and, I have raised three children, read them the book and they all turned out all right!

This book is so sweet! Every time I have to buy a baby gift for someone having a boy, this is part of it! I recommend it to anyone looking for a heart-warming gift.

The first time I read this book I thought it was sweet... for the first few pages. By the time there's a picture of the mom driving with a ladder tied to the roof of her car to climb in her grown son's room my husband looked at me and asked what the heck I was reading. I could barely finish we were laughing so hard! I'm so glad to see that there are other people who find this book creepy and ridiculous! Ours is leaving the house!

I saw this book a while back and thought it was sweet. I now reread it and connect with it more now that I have a son and it pulls at the old heart strings. Great gift for mother's day or any time you want to remind mom how fast their sons grow and how special they are. Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it now!

Extremely creepy and unhealthy. I do not recommend this as a model for motherly love.

As a psychologist looking for healthy constructive relationships to be represented in my child's books, I too find this book to be disturbing in the way that it normalizes unhealthy behavior and attitudes.

Why must the mother deplore all the son's changing behaviors as he grows? Why can't she continue to actively love him through his inevitable changes? Why must she only express her love at night when the son cannot receive it? Healthy expression of emotion involves loving people through the behaviors we don't care for. In this story, she withholds her love and acceptance as he grows, then can only express it under the cover of darkness, fantasizing that he is still a baby.

In addition, to normalize the invasiveness of this mother's use of a ladder to enter her grown son's bedroom (hello??) and physically cradle him (HELLO??) is truly disturbing. It represents a host of boundary violations, and would be called stalking were they not related. This mother is looking to get her emotional needs met in very inappropriate ways. Ask yourself this: if this were the mother of your husband, or the father of your wife, and this were happening in your home at night, how would you feel about this behavior?

A parent's role is to build and nurture close, healthy ties with their children, but always see them for who they are right now (a large portion of family therapy cases arise out of parents' inability to do this). Although we will always be mothers and fathers, our role as parent is meant to wane as children grow. Failure to understand that is failure to see one's child for who they've grown into, and instead to hold them as "always my baby."

Yes, we will not leave; yes, we will love you forever; yes, you may misbehave, and though we may not like the behavior we will continue to love you--these are healthy messages. The message of this book is that mom may not like who you become and what you do, but she'll invade your house and express her love inappropriately.

**It is important, indeed essential, that we be conscious of the words, messages, and attitudes that we convey to our children.** The attitudes and behaviors in this book are unhealthy, and show inappropriate withholding and displaying of emotion. The author should be in therapy, not writing children's books.

This book is extremely creepy! The old woman crawling through the bedroom window and over her grown son's body sleeping in his twin bed and then picking him up to rock him while he's still asleep...GROSS! Needless to say, the copy I had was thrown in the garbage.

This book has always been disturbing to me. Talk about not knowing how to let go of your kids. The mother in this book is, frankly, nuts, and the son needs to get a restraining order against her.


What does his wife think about the fact that his mom sneaks in his room and rocks him in the middle of the night? Is nobody else disturbed by that image?

And the people who think this book is sweet--I fear for your children and the relationships you will have with them as adults. Seriously, I understand, as a parent, how you will cherish your relationship with your kids for the rest of your life. But your relationship HAS to change and mature, otherwise...

Well...you'll be like creepy mom. (I will give points for the end where the son loves his mom back, that's kinda sweet...but only if you forget about all the mom-stalking during his adult years.)

DO NOT GIVE THIS BOOK TO ANYONE YOU CARE ABOUT. As they used to say about nuclear weapons: NOT HEALTHY FOR CHILDREN AND OTHER LIVING BEINGS.

This is the second time I've purchased this book. I gave my first copy away to my stepson as a Father's Day gift. I know it says "Kid's Library", but I consider it just as essential for Grandma's Library. Only one caution. Read it to yourself before you read it to a child. It's a real tear-jerker if you don't know what's coming. My friend handed it to her husband who had never seen it before and had him read it to their kids while she video taped the event. He was practically bawling by the time he finished. It's a tremendously heart-warming view of life's journey and it's continuation to the next generation. Adults may appreciate it more than kids, but kids will remember it, especially when they remember that Daddy or Grandma cried when they read them that story.

If you're a sentimental-hearted adult, you may like this book. Or, you may find it downright creepy. Imagine the genders reversed---a dad slinking into his daughter's bedroom late at night and if she's *really* asleep, he'll... Didn't I see this on Law & Order: SVU? Best to stay away from this book if you're looking for an adorable shower gift. Some love it, most people I know dislike it or despise it. It's the right book title, but the story doesn't live up to the expectations.

For those who really are trashing this wonderful book, I dont get it. Now 20, raised by parents who always called me their baby since I was their only child...this book has stayed with me throughout my entire childhood. My parents never read this to me, instead this was a book i picked up at a library and never forgot. I can not believe people are trashing this book and calling it creepy. Whats creepy is that all these people who claim to have children and blah blah blah are taking this book in the "dirty perverted" sense. I dont think it was to be taken literally that a parent would ever do something such as creep in their own grown son's window and hold him. Its just a book to show the neverending cycle of love. And as for the people analyzing it as ..where's the father, why is it only a bond between mother and son...oh come on. I bet the author thought people who read the book would have more of an open mind to imagine it being between any gender parent and any gender child.

And on top of that ...the ones who analyze it as "what if it were between father and daughter?" What if it was? Why is that the question that people ask? This book wasnt meant to be analyzed for how obsessive parents can be. Its just a book about love - never ending love. And its so sad to me that people cant see that. This is a book I'd read to my child and in the end hope that they always know and understand that no matter what I will always love him/her. And in the end, I only hope after all the years that will come in between my child and me -- and I bet it will, that in the end, he/she will still return the love as strongly as they did when they were children when they didnt know anything except adoration for the one's who raised them.

what a wonderful wonderful book.

I love this book. It is a favorite of mine, my children, my mother, my sisters, my nieces...et cetera. I could go on and on as to the sheer number of people that this book has touched. It so perfectly illustrates the strength of love that a mother has for her child and how that love never lessens or dies, no matter how old or young her child. It also shows that a mother's love can pass on for generations, teaching children to become loving parents themselves through the example of a loving, affectionate parent.

However, if you are expecting "realism" from this book, you need to look elsewhere. I couldn't get over some of the negative reviews I've read of this book criticizing it for being "inappropriately unrealistic." This is a work of FICTION. The author employs different literary techniques in order to help tell his story. A few words and phrases the critics might want to familiar themselves with: Allegory, Creative License and Symbolism, to name just a few. If you don't like the book, you don't like the book. No problem. Different people have different likes and dislikes. But to act like the author is demented and that anybody who likes his book is mentally/emotionally deficient as well is just incredibly ignorant.

I believe this is a book for readers who appreciate fairy tales and symbolism, readers who are parents themselves and/or those who have close relationships with their parents. Clearly, there are those that may not be able to grasp the symbolism or the creative license the author uses...but as my own small children have never had trouble with it, I wonder if it isn't because some adults have become too literal-minded and have lost all ability to employ their own imaginations.

Review by Sherry North, Author, Because You Are My Baby

Love You Forever explores the unbreakable bond between mother and son, but goes too far for many readers. It has an appealing refrain to reassure your child you will "like him for always" and "love him forever." The rhythm of this refrain makes it a good choice to read to babies. However, as children get older, they may feel uncomfortable watching the mother climb in through the window of her adult son's bedroom. Boys seem particularly uneasy about the illustration of the grown-up son rocking the aging mother in his arms.

I was given this book as a baby gift when my son was born. My friend said it is her daughters favorite story. When my son was about three years old I read it to him. BIG MISTAKE! He became obsessed with my mortality. He wasnt really sure what was happening at the end but he said it was really really bad. I should have followed my first instinct when I read it and thrown it away, I would'nt have been kept up with so many nightmares. He just saw the cover picture as I was typing this and said " Never read that again!"

This is a great book , perfect for any mother or child...my students love this book.

No book appeals to everyone who reads it, but the negative reviews here are puzzling. Most don't just pan the book: they attack it and the people who enjoy it with positively visceral verbiage. Yikes! What's with all the hostility?

Robert Munsch wrote a charming story with a simple message: real love doesn't change or fade away when the person loved becomes inconvenient, annoying, rebellious, feable, unlovely, old or dead. He used a kind of extended hyperbole, which Sheila McGraw poingnantly illustrated, to represent how steadfast love endures regardless of the circumstances.

The author clearly never meant for his tale to be taken literally. The people who read it literally are completely missing the author's point.

This book is joyful reading for parent and child and one you will want to read over and over again at your child's request. It is about growing in love and maturity through the life span. I heard it the first time read aloud, after my children were grown. The story captures well the emotions and feelings in the parent-child relationship. A must for every family's reading.

When I first read this book in the bookstore, it brought tears to my eyes. I immediately purchased several books to send to new mothers and new grandmothers.

The story very poignantly shows the circle of life in a family, as well as the circle of love. Just as our parents love us, so we love each of our children even though they may not always be perfect. Robert Munsch, as always, does a wonderful job of capturing the antics of a child and the reaction of a parent.

His repeating verse of I love you forever, I love you always is a soothing verse for all children and makes it a great bedtime story for children. A book both adults and children will love,this is one of my favorite books!

When I saw the Mother holding the 20 year old son, I really didn't know what to think. I was oddly creeped-out and I am a very open minded person. I ended-up throwing this book away. I know, SHAME!

As someone with a lot of experience with children's literature (I'm a children's librarian), I can confidently say that this is NOT a children's book. This is a book is for overly-sentimental, super-sappy mothers. If my mother had read this to me, I would have suggested therapy. If she had wept while reading this to me, I would have attempted emancipation and had her certified at the state mental facility. It would frighten any child to think that their unstable, co-dependent parent might sneak into their bedroom through a window(after the child is grown) to snuggle with them.
Not only is this book poorly written and too sentimental, but the illustrations are lacking and the relationship between the mother and son makes my stomach bile rise.
I believe that people who love and defend this book so vehemently should invest in some sort of therapy to save their children from a lifetime of complexes and personality defects brought about by their parents' unhealthy emotional attachment.

This book started off touching, if a little strange. Once the child got into his teens and the mom was creeping into the room and rocking him and singing to him, it got slightly creepy. When the mom drove over to his house when he was an adult, where he slept in a twin bed by himself, put up a ladder and broke in through his window and picked him up while he slept and rocked him and sang...that was ultra creepy.

Adults might be able to pull the heartwarming message out of this story and kids might not quite understand the creepiness, but there are better stories to teach about unconditioanl love. Everyone is entitled to enjoy it if it resonates for them, but for me, it just feels silly and creepy. I would much prefer to read a book that both I and my children can enjoy.

I got this book as a shower gift, and it looks so sweet. It made me cry in a BAD way, not in a sentimental way. Its weird and basically about the mother getting old and sickly and dying and leaving her son. I don't want to think about getting old and leaving my new baby. Just the worst book I've ever read.

My parents had this book when I was young. I recently found it and read it with my boyfriend, as we someday hope to have kids. He was so touched by it that he cried and cried. I bought 2 copies of the book, one to keep for ourselves, and one to give to a young couple friend of ours, who have a 14 month old. It was the best gift that I ever could have given!!

"Love You Forever" is a beautifully written story that sends a clear message to ADULTS and to children. It is a beautifully illustrated, tender story of caring for children as a parent...and then, in our later years, our children care for us as their child. My husband bought me this book, and I love it. I go to this book (with tissues in hand) to remember my own days as a parent, and I see myself through this story as I move from one age bracket to the next. Every baby announcement I receive, I give the gift of "classic" first books to start the newborns library. This is one book I ALWAYS include. Our grown children who love their own children but remember to honor their parents along their lifetime will cherish this wonderful story.

I have a many siblings and we watched our mother get sicker and sicker every day for many years. In the beginning of her sickness she would read this book to us every night before we would go about our daily chores and dinner routine. We would all crowd into her bedroom and settle on her bed and floor and listen to her read it. We even recorded her reading it. When she became so sick that she couldn't speak anymore, we still gathered in her room and played the tape of her reading all holding our own copies of this book. If our mother could have come into our rooms and rocked us to sleep or protected us from our nightmares it was when we heard her read this book. Even in sickness and death she will continue to read this book to us and I know that even when I am fighting in another country that she is holding me. I brought a copy of this book and her reading to the Middle East with me. Now I have it here and my children listen to my mother read it every night before bed, just like I know my siblings children do as well. I cry every time I hear the tape, and I hope many more families make wonderful memories with this wonderful book of love that goes everywhere.

This is a simple story of parents loving and caring for children to children loving and caring for their parent's touches the heart.

This book was one of my children's favorites, they repeatedly asked for it to be read to them. Later on I found out they thought it was funny to see mommy cry/tear up at each reading.

Robert Munsch (Author) is one of the best children's writers and I have bought this book for my son who now has a daughter. Prefect as a baby gift from a grandparent.

I send this book as a small gift whenever I hear that one of my friends is pregnant. Its a very touching book with great illustrations.

If I could give this book zero stars, I would. As a daughter-in-law and devoted mother of a son and daughter, I would never give this book as a gift. I love my children desperately, and do not want them to think about Mommy dying any sooner than they have to, or to create boundary issues. Boys have a hard enough time cutting the apron strings and don't need to be made to feel guilty. I love the sentiment this book is trying to convey, but it stepped way over the boundary line.

My mother gave me this book this summer and I only read it once before I vowed never to open it again. It stinks of everything unhealthy about a relationship my mother would love to have with me. It supports an unbalanced, clingy, unhealthy and codependent relationship between a mother and her son. I cannot support this book in any way. I hope that people will think twice before exposing their children to unhealthy relationship examples such as this one.

Sorry, folks, but there are better ways to tell your children that they are loved!! I could accept the little song, but even my boys thought that Mummy's climbing into her son's room at night with a ladder was WAY weird. I bet Freud would have a hay day with this one! I got a good chuckle just thinking about it. As for the book--we will never read it again at our house. Instead, I think I will just give my kids a big hug and kiss every night and say, "I love you" before I turn off the light and close their bedroom doors.

This is a book I was shown as a little girl. Everytime I read it, I cry. As my children grow and become parents, I buy one for them. It says it all.