Today, my two girls go for it regularly on my shelf at bedtime. They tease me because I can't get through it without crying. Funny to me that they have a very good grasp of allegory and they, unlike some of the book's critics, understand that the scenes with the mother coming to the man's apartment are actually his memories of her love. They understand, as I explain to them that the love poured into the son by his mother, has taught him how to love his new baby daughter at the end.

Love begets love, and this little childrens' parable is a powerful reminder! I highly recommend _Love You Forever_ to anyone who enjoyed a wonderful love with their mother. To others, I'm sorry but you simply won't (and obviously don't) understand. It's not written for you.


Love You Forever is a Great Book. 10 Stars!   April 27, 2004
 61 out of 80 found this review helpful

I read this book so many times to my children when they were small, they loved it each time, as it showed them the stages of life in a poignant and beautiful manner. I never cried from this book, and neither did my children, although I did get choked up, with moist eyes. It also brought about more of a loving bond, that shows the circle of life, and how important unconditional love is between a parent and child.
I highly recommend reading this book to a your child. It will show how much love there is, and how it endures "forever."


The Underlying Creepiness Makes For A Sick Book   February 15, 2001
 52 out of 81 found this review helpful

On the surface, it's a really sweet book about a mother who really loves her baby boy as he grows to manhood, no matter how goofy or annoying he may be in the process. Periodically she visits him and sings the song.If it were just that, it'd be an all time classic. But it takes the simple concept to disturbing extremes that have to be seen to be believed. Anyone who's had a baby in their family knows there's nothing cuter than looking at them while they're sleeping. The mother in the book knows this and sneaks into his room at night to peek at her angel, and sing her little song to him. Nothing wrong with that, right?

Only it doesn't stop there. When the boy is a teenager she CRAWLS into his room on all fours and, "If he was really asleep she picked up that great big boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth" while she sang her song. I don't know about you but if I was 15 and woke up in my bed with my Mom holding me like that, I'd probably scream. Who knows what kind of weird dreams this poor boy was having?

Well at least when this poor lad moves out of the house, he won't have to deal with his mother's obsessive habits anymore...or does he? Yep, once he's full grown, according to the book, "...sometimes on dark nights his mother got into her car and drove across town." YIKES! Not only is that scarier than hell that she's driving with a ladder strapped to her car in the middle of the night, but she makes a regular habit of it. Mommy climbs up his house, crawls through his window and does the same thing. Man this guy sleeps better than anyone I've ever known! Well, you can see by looking at this small single bed that he never got married. And he had such a healthy upbringing, too.

Though the book takes a poignant dramatic turn when he hears his mother isn't doing well and he goes to visit her. As he holds his dying mother in his lap, he turns the tables and sings the song to her. But wait a minute! I thought he was asleep during all those other times. Looks like he was playing along with this little sick little game a little too eagerly. At this point, you feel bad for making fun of the book at all 'cause his mother has passed away. The son returns home, though, and picks up his baby girl and sings the song to her.

But from everything we've seen in the book, the guy lives alone. The only woman he ever sees at night is his Mom. Leaving the only possible mother of his child to be...OH MY GOD!!!

If you still think this book is sweet and that I'm missing the true spirit of LOVE YOU FOREVER, just switch the genders of the characters in this story and tell me that wouldn't be extra creepy.


A great book for your kids or your mom   June 13, 2000
 51 out of 60 found this review helpful

This is another one of those books I can't read without having to dab at my eyes. Any loving parent, or child of a loving parent, will recognize the overwhelming love the mother in this story feels for her son. When her son is a newborn, she rocks him and 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." When he's asleep, she rocks him and sings him that song through each stage of his childhood. When he's a grown man with his own home, she drives over to his house with a ladder, makes sure he is fast asleep, climbs through his bedroom window, then rocks him and sings to him (my husband thinks this is a little strange, but I'm convinced that there are plenty of mothers out there who would do the same if they thought they could get away with it).

The tears come when the mother gets sick, and can't finish the song. Her son then holds her in his lap, rocks her, and sings to her. Then he goes home, picks up his newborn daughter, and sings. The illustrations are a beautiful complement to the story. Not only does the son grow up, but the mother slowly grows older. Her house keeps its old-fashioned look, even down to the rotary phone on her bedside; his house is more modern, with up-to-date kitchen appliances. The mother has a striped cat that appears in several illustrations of the boy growing up. In his house, there is a kitten, that grows into a cat, that turns into a rather large, well-fed cat by the end of the story.

Not only am I sharing this book with my kids, but I gave my mom a copy for Mother's Day.


Read it to my daughter once and never again   June 12, 2004
 50 out of 67 found this review helpful

I can understand why many adults find this book appealing. I myself had bought it, not so much thinking about my children, but my own aging parents. So mea culpa for bringing it into the house in the first place.

One night at bedtime, my five year old chose it for her bedtime story. When I'd finished, she burst into tears and sobbed "I don't want you to die!" My heart just sank.

If you find the premise of the book touching, that makes sense. You are a grown up and understand the cycle of life and love that the book speaks to. I think it is way to heavy for children.

If you want stories about unconditional love, try "Do You Know How Much I Love You" or "Mama, Do You Love Me?"

If you want a book about ilness and death of a loved one, try "Nana Upstairs Nana Downstairs" by Tommy DePaola.

This book too closely links love and loss in a way that is not healthy for children.