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Love You Forever | The Sad But True Story Behind the Book

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Parents all across the world love the book Love You Forever by author Robert Munsch. But most don’t know the story behind the story.

Love You Forever | The Sad But True Story Behind the Book
photo via Amazon

I remember the first time I picked up the book with the powder blue cover. I had no idea what I was in store for when I opened to the first page. To say there were tears is an understatement. One might even say I was not-so-quietly sobbing.

If you’ve read it, and I’ll be most of you have, you know why.

Love You Forever

This sweet little story takes readers on an emotional journey that begins with the birth of a child, a little boy, and continues through his life to adulthood when he has a child of his own. (I won’t say more on the slim chance you haven’t read it.)

Moms (and dads) come alongside Mom in the story because the truth is, we know her. We are her. She’s delighted on some days, and frustrated on others. She’s proud and she’s fiercely protective. So are we.

Here’s what the author himself has to say about his work.

Love You Forever started as a song,” he says on his website. “I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, as long as I’m living my baby you’ll be.”

For those of us who’ve read it, we can’t help but sing it, too. Are you singing it in your head with me?

Robert goes on, “I made that up after my wife and I had two babies born dead. The song was my song to my dead babies. For a long time, I had it in my head and I couldn’t even sing it because every time I tried to sing it I cried. It was very strange having a song in my head that I couldn’t sing.”

Love You Forever | The Sad But True Story Behind the Book
photo via Amazon

From heartbreak to healing.

What an incredibly sad period of time for Robert and his wife, Ann. That kind of pain is so heavy and dark I’m sure they must have felt like they might never be okay again.

But knowing he somehow managed to reroute a small portion of their shared anguish into the creation of something so beautiful is heartening. Out of one couple’s limitless sorrow and loss came incalculable tears of love and joy and healing from millions and millions worldwide.

Robert would like to hear you sing Love Your Forever

From his website: “Everybody makes up their own song for this book. If you send me your version, either as a tape or an audio file or an MP3 file, I will try to put it up in the LOVE YOU page. If lots of people send me their versions, I will not be able to put them all up, but I would like to hear them even if I can’t put them on the site.”

In closing, if you love Robert’s work you should check out more of his work as he’s a prolific children’s author. You can purchase the book on Amazon HERE.

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