I have always loved this children's book. It actually had Robert Munsch sign a copy and write in it for my dad. We had slides of this book interspersed with photos for my paternal grandfather's funeral. I knew some of the story behind the words but not in its entirety. We have the chorus in Gordon's baby book.
These are the words of the author, Robert Munsch.
Love You Forever
Love You Forever started as a song.
"I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
as long as I'm living
my baby you'll be."
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.
For a long time it was just a song but one day, while telling stories at a big theatre at the University of Guelph, it occurred to me that I might be able to make a story around the song.
Out popped Love You Forever, pretty much the way it is in the book.
My regular publisher felt that it was not really a kid's book and I ended up doing it with another publisher.
One day the publisher called up and said "This is very strange. It is selling very well in retirement communities in Arizona. It is selling in retirement communities where kids are illegal. This is supposed to be a children's book. What is going on?"
"Grownups are buying it for grownups!"
In fact, it turned out that parents buy it for grandparents and grandparents buy it for parents and kids buy it for everybody and everybody buys it for kids.
As a matter of fact, everybody buys it for everybody. That's why it sells a lot of copies. I think it's my best book. So far it has sold about 15,000,000 copies.
Everybody makes up their own song for this book. I would like to put different versions of the song up on this site, now that the site has sound on it. If you send me your version, either as a tape or an audio file or a MR3 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.
The way I sing it in the story is just MY version. You are supposed to make up your own.
5 comments:
I never knew that about that book. That makes the words of that song, even closer to heart now. Do you think you'll send in a copy of how you and Marj sang it?
thanks for that Jenn - that makes that song and book that much more powerful.
I can see how he sold so many copies of the book. Somehow we managed to have 3 copies of it at the house. The only thing we have more copies of is the bible. I always thought of grandpa with the book, because he became like an old child to us, but I'm glad to have this background. It is beautiful and true. Our hearts will always sing to Gordon our very own love songs.
I love that book too, but didn't know the history behind it. Thanks! I've read it 100 times if I've read it once to Harrison, and I STILL can't get through it without tearing up. It's about profound love and I can see why so many people buy it, for people they love, adults and children alike!
Jenn I too love this book. When Brian graduated from high school I gave him a copy. Also when I Ivan was born. I tend to weep each time I read it.
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