“Love You Forever” Controversy
A few weeks ago writer Marlene Kern Fischer posted a confession on Facebook: She hates the book Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw (1986).
The book shows a mom and child through many stages of life, and at each phase the mom sings: “I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, As long as I’m living my baby you’ll be.” This is sweet as a baby and toddler, a little odd as a kid and teen, and absurb as an adult, when the mother uses a ladder to climb into her child’s window in his house across town.
In her post, Fischer describes this section as notably creepy: “Does he not have a significant other? Or has the mother ruined any chance of him finding a partner by her bizarre behavior. Did she scare a few companions off — ‘Oh excuse me, please move over so that I can pick up your boyfriend/husband and rock him?’ Does no one else find this incredibly unsettling????” Fischer’s post, despite its comic tone, has set the internet on fire, with strident comments both for and against the book. Many agree with Fischer that the book is not one of their favorites, while others attack her for being heartless or having come from an unloving family — the only explanation dissenters see for not loving this book. Whoa, folks, let’s keep the internet the friendly, chill place we’ve all come to expect.
My take is that Love You Forever is sweet and absurd in the way that picture books often are. Even before the mom drives across town with a ladder strapped to the roof of the car, the illustrations and the text show that we’re meant to have fun. The toddler looks about to put an expensive watch in the toilet. The mom crawls on hands and knees to quietly approach the kid’s bed.
Some of my other favorite picture books have an odd sense of humor and quirky behavior. It’s part of the fun. Jon Klassen’s I Want Hat Back (2011) involves a bear eating a rabbit to get his hat back. Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen (1970) has been the target of negative attention because of his drawings of the naked kid in it, but what about the naked kid being in the cake batter? Gross, right? Funny, right? I love Eloise by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight (1955) but probably couldn’t stand to be in the same room as the character.
In Alistair in Outer Space by Marilyn Sadler and Roger Bollen (1984), Alistair, “a sensible boy,” is abducted by aliens. He doesn’t seem to mind except that he’s worried about returning his library books on time. One of my husband’s favorite books from his childhood is Jacob and Joachim’s Rescue Service by Jorgen Clevin and Ernest Benn and translated by Elisabeth Boas (1972). The titular characters, a boy and an elephant, establish a rescue service, where they provide alternate transportation (from the elephant) to a car with a flat tire, play with bored children, and move a house by digger.
Let’s agree to disagree. There are too many picture books out there to fight over one choice. Don’t side with me on Love You Forever? Even Fischer says that’s okay: “I hope that if you love this book, we can still be friends. But if you suggest coming over and singing to me in the middle of the night, we are done.”
For those who want a more straightforward book by Munsch, may I recommend The Paper Bag Princess (illustrated by Michael Martchenko, 1980). When a prince is captured by a dragon, the titular princess rescues him by outsmarting the dragon. The prince is critical of her disheveled appearance, and she responds: “Your clothes are real pretty and your hair is very neat. You look like a real prince, but you are a bum.” That’s as direct as you can get.