Love You Forever

 Love You Forever

By: Robert Munsch

Illustrated by: Shaila McGraw

 Firefly Books, 1986

Picture Book

Love You Forever is story about the loving relationship between mother and son. The book takes you through the stages of a boy's life, from birth to adult. Through each stage the author shows how the mother loves her son no matter what. Even through the rough years, every night she visits her son while he is asleep and recites a sweet lullaby. At the end, the story takes you to when the son is caring for his dying mother. That is when he cradles his mother in his arms and recites the same lullaby his mother sang to him. At last, the son carries on the lullaby to his new born daughter after the death of his mother. 

The illusrations were created by Shaila McGraw. The book is beautifully depicted in bright pastels on each page. The illustrations show the growth of the mother and son through the years. It shows the aging of the mother, especially as she is dying her hair is painted in grey with wrinkles on her face. The boy is painted as a young new born with rosy cheeks to a tall adult with thick brown hair. 

I would use this book to Reading to children in grades 1st through 3rd. It has a lot of reading for a picture book and it can challenge students to be able to consitantly read for paragraphs at a time. The book uses descriptive imagery that can help students broaden their vocabulary. I would challenge my students to popcorn read to their peers.