Thank You, Robert Munsch

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch was one of my favorite books as a kid. I was obsessed with the baby illustrations in the book and read it over and over, so by the time I had my own children, I knew it was going to be the first book on their shelves. Love You Forever has gotten a bit of a bad rap thanks to social media, with many memes and accounts mocking the story of an elderly woman sneaking into her adult son’s house to rock him to sleep, but the legacy of the book deserves better. Honestly, the legacy of Robert Munsch deserves all of the good things.

Munsch, the incredibly popular children’s book author and illustrator, was diagnosed with dementia and Parkinson’s in recent years. And while the Canadian icon shared in a New York Times piece that he’s decided on a Medically Assisted Death (MAID) when the time comes, his daughter recently took to social media to share that he’s not near the end of his life nor is he actively dying.

But the progressive form of these diseases is scary to think about — much like a world without Robert Munsch. The prolific author has written over 75 books, tapping into multiple generations with his first book, Mud Puddle, published in 1979. From there, he became a fixture on children’s book shelves from The Paper Bag Princess and Stephanie’s Ponytail to Mortimer and Put Me in a Book!

And yes, Love You Forever.

The latter has been a classic Munsch story, and while all of his books have a level of silliness and love, something about Love You Forever has gone right over people’s heads. On Munsch’s own website, he shares that he was unsure if this one would be published and really struggled to get it into print. It was different than his other books: more tender, more lovely.

Love You Forever was originally a song, one Munsch sang in memory of the two stillborn babies he and his wife lost in 1979 and 1980.

The levels of love and grief woven through those pages can not be understated. The book still has Munsch’s trademark silliness — the illustration of the mother driving to her adult son’s house in the middle of the night with a ladder tied to the roof of her car is peak Munsch humor — but catches you right in the throat with its gripping reminder that life is short and all we truly have at the end of every day is each other.

And honestly? That motherhood is unhinged. And the love we feel for our children is absolutely unhinged. And the lengths we would go to for our kids so that they never, for one second, feel alone in this world? Unhinged.

I know, I know. People are just being silly when they mock the book or make fun of a “toxic #boymom” with their memes and TikToks about the book, but knowing Munsch’s story and the inspiration behind Love You Forever makes me feel defensive about the book. Honestly, it makes me want to loudly protect Munsch’s legacy forever. A man whose entire library of stories is built around kids being themselves, full stop, from Stephanie to Mortimer to The Paper Bag Princess to Jule Ann is a library worth putting on a pedestal.

Especially because he lets the mothers be themselves in these stories, too.

All of our unhinged, chaotic selves.

So thank you, Robert Munsch. For making little girls and little boys feel seen, for making mothers feel heard, and for finding a way to make the most mundane parts of life extra bright and funny for all of us.

We’ll love you forever, too.