| Love You Forever | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Robert Munsch |
| Illustrator | Sheila McGraw |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Firefly Books |
| Publication date | 1986 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 31 |
| ISBN | 0-920-66837-2 |
Love You Forever is a short book written by Robert Munsch and published in 1986. It tells the story of the evolving relationship between a boy and his mother. It 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).[1] 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."[2]
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, moving everyone to tears. Inspired by this, Joey later decides to recite the book as a dramatic monologue at an audition.
The book was read by Madeleine Stowe to Tori Barban in the movie The Christmas Hope, the third movie in the The Christmas Shoes trilogy.
As the story begins, a son has just been born. The story then continues through the life of the boy until he is a grown man. The mother continues to rock her son to sleep singing "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be." Later, the role is reversed and he holds his elderly mother and says "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my Mommy you'll be." At the very end of the story, the mother passes away and her son is the father of a little girl, rocking her to sleep; singing the same song that his mother used to sing to him.