Love You Forever

December 15, 2003
This recording of 12 of picture-book author Munsch's most popular stories will likely prove a treat for his long-standing fans. However, the author's very high-energy storytelling style—featuring lots of guttural noises, bratty-sounding dialogue exchanges, exasperated rants and drawn-out, singsong pronunciation of certain words—will quickly wear thin for those beyond preschool. Munsch introduces each entry with a brief line of background and ends each one with "That's the end of that story"; more extensive information about each book can be found in the liner notes. Those already enamored of Love You Forever
, Mortimer, The Paperbag Princess
and other selections here will appreciate the recording's snippets of music, studio sound effects and kids' spontaneous participation. These added touches make this CD feel like a trip to a storytelling festival performance. A never-before-published story called "Growl" is also included as a bonus. Ages 2-up.

December 1, 2017
The hugging and rocking back and forth become literal thanks to pull-tabs in this 3-D rendition of the 1986 classic.Pop-ups take the creepiness of Munsch's paean to helicopter parenting to a whole new level, as opening gatefolds cause the crawling white (apparently single) mother's head to rise eerily over the edge of her 2-year-old's bed and to peer through his door in the night when he's a teenager. Otherwise the special effects are confined to simple backing and forthing or small, often disjointed motions that add little except physical fragility to the art. The text is unchanged, as are McGraw's illustrations--which, what with the teen's Walkman, the touch-tone phones, and the grown-up son's preppy pullover, have not aged well--and the plot still follows its circular course to the final scene of the young dad rocking a baby who is, to judge from the lack of any visible or narrative evidence of female agency, stolen or adopted. Superfluous. (Pop-up picture book. 3-6, adult)

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