Love You Forever: A Look at Simplicity 

By J.J. Calica, Love You Forever Team

Published in 1986, the acclaimed child’s book, Love You Forever, has held a top five spot on Publisher’s Weekly All-Time Bestselling Children’s Books. Just edging J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by a few hundred thousand sales, Pennsylvania native Robert Munsch has captured audiences of different walks and stages of life. Rather than employ conventional methods of close reading to determine the book’s strengths, a research group from the University of California – Santa Barbara has adopted various analytical tools to quantitatively dissect the work. Though the observation of pattern and structure, these tools expose information most likely to be overlooked and lost within the methods of close reading.

            When asked as to why the group found this work so important for study, J.J. Calica, a third-year English Major and member of the group, responds, “Love You Forever is a unique children’s book in that it not only speaks to children, but to all of us. Wherever we are in life, children, teenagers and adults can relate to the relationships found within the text. After reading the book, it’s close to impossible to not have the experiences and memories of your childhood come back to mind.” Within the text, the mother is found singing to her son regularly the words, "I'll Love You Forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I’m living, my baby you'll be." The book takes a turn as the mother no longer can sing these words but is sung to by her son as he carries and rocks her. After doing so he is found singing the reprise once again to his own daughter just as his mother had done to him for many years.

             Easily it can be seen that Love You Forever touches on many serious aspects of life. It introduces the idea of familial ties and patience within a home. It exposes the idea of death and loss in a family. Love You Forever brings hope and security as the circular motions of life are found when the son begins his own family. This use of true-life situations and application of such to the reader causes a reflux of memory and, as a result, an outburst of emotion. This cathartic reaction is not a common occurrence within children’s literature. It is for this reason that Love You Forever was a perfect candidate for analytical study. The observation of the work at a distance allows the exploration of unknown and unseen data ready for interpretation.

            Coming to a quantitative conclusion of the short children’s storybook did not come easily. Through trial and error and the use of many different text analysis tools, only one tool proved useful in the measuring of the book. Tag Cloud, a tool that differentiates words visually based on their frequency in the text, was vital in the group’s analysis of the book. Other tools such as Tapor, Many Eyes, Gender Genie, and Wordle were tested and found to yield insufficient data for use in the project.

            Using frequency as the driving analytical force of the text, it was found that Robert Munsch’s use of repetition was key in the creation and success of Love You Forever. After gathering the data, the team found two distinct ways to analyze and adapt the figures and numbers presented by the Tag Cloud tool. This was done through the use of audible and visual interpretation. Katie Joyce, a third-year at UCSB and a phenomenal pianist, took on the challenge to apply and assign notes to the data gathered from the text analysis tool. J.J. Calica took charge of the visual aspect of the project using photographs and textual presentation as an adaptation of the work based on the use of word frequency and order. Together, the work would prove to have significant impact in the analysis of the book itself.

Initially it was determined that the use of the Claws Tool, a text analysis tool based on the parts of speech, was to drive the musical aspect of the project. After assigning notes to the data, it was found that the analysis of the parts of speech had no particular significance nor did it expose vital unknown information of the text. Testing different tools and new ideas, the team stumbled upon Tag Cloud. This tool complimented almost perfectly the idea of musical adaptation. The decision to use of repetition and beats provided a direct relationship with the use of word frequency per page of the book. The assignation of particular chords and notes to certain words based on their frequency, within the fourteen pages of Love You Forever, formed an interesting piece of music mimicking the sound of a lullaby.

To better resemble a lullaby, the notes were played an octave higher on the piano. This high register, more appropriate for a children’s song, were applied to the most frequently used words. Using major chords, thirds and quarter notes for application to word frequency (depending on order) the mix of notes allowed different type of lullaby to emerge. This led to several realizations and insights about the book undiscoverable without this adaptation. The simplicity of the piece stayed true to the simple nature of Love You Forever and clearly demonstrated the repetitious power within the text. It was found that the words that come up repeatedly throughout the book were associated with a distinct sound. As a word appeared a certain sound would play. This recognition clearly showed a pattern found within the text. When asked about the major achievements of such a piece David Rotlisberger stated, “As a whole, the song does not resemble any particular lullaby, neither does it sound ‘cute.’ It took on its own form and the words directed the song with an eerie twist. These mystical sounds created an atmosphere that very much correlates with hidden themes that are indirectly addressed in the book, such as death. It forces one to become more aware of repetition in the book, and the theme of death and rebirth through music.

            Because the literature chosen was a children’s book, it was not only important to analyze the textual aspect of the book, but to have an in-depth analysis of both sight and sound. Using the music as a representation of the text in the children’s book, it was determined that the use of the illustration and visual element in Love You Forever was additionally important in the overall power of the story. Rebecca Lukens states in her book, A Critical Handbook of Children’s Literature, that “The pictures exist to extend the textual meaning, going beyond what may be the simplicity of the words. They may give more exact information, create a mood and atmosphere by depiction of a setting, or make us care about character because dress and countenance reveal more of a person than does the mere name (27).” In placing a likewise important role on the illustrations of Love You Forever, J.J. Calica was given the task of visually presenting the work using the data from the Tag Cloud tool. Word frequency, which played a very vital role in the project, was first observed with the adaptation to music. This same frequency was adopted and used in the visual interpretation of the work.

Sheila McGraw, the artist and illustrator Love You Forever, is given credit for her works that are done in bright colors, and depict family life relationships. These illustrations of a mother and her child, within their familial confines found in Love You Forever, have a significant impact on the story itself. As a reader continues throughout the book, his or her eyes are exposed and drawn to beautiful illustrations of recognizable trademarks of childhood. To adapt and create an atmosphere found in the book, David Rotlisberger, member of the research group, was given the assignment to find numerous photos that applied and related to the five different periods and stages of life, namely birth, toddler hood, teenage life, adulthood and senior citizenship.

After the collection of various photos, the visual adaptation began. Using the Adobe Photoshop program, each photo was cropped to a perfect square to ensure uniformity. A collage of the photos in each stage of life was created. Textual images (words typed on screen) of each page were created. Each of the 14 pages had (3) corresponding jpegs. Every page had (1) a textual image of the page in its entirety; (2) an emphasized textual image focusing solely on the frequently used words; and (3) an overlay of the collage on the selected words of the second image giving it a visual dimension for use in the video presentation.

Using these 42 images and the additional 150 cropped images, Adobe After Effects was utilized to zoom into the images and aid in the toggling and maneuvering of the text. This toggling allowed the viewer to have a sense of a true reading of the book. Furthermore, the implementation of the photos in each stage of life was introduced through the before mentioned overlayed images within the text. The transition from words to photos was completed by the zooming into the text and thus the photo. This “entrance” into the text became a door to both worlds mimicking the ability of Love You Forever to pull you in though its text and then apply the words to illustrations.

By creating a strong adaptation of the book it was clear that repetition and frequency played a huge roll in the beauty of Love You Forever. As words disappeared from the screen, as music reaffirmed our feelings of the text and as photos reminded us of our lives (past, present and future) a full experience of the things that matter were taken in. By finding the truth within the words and within the rhythm, a more perfect understanding and appreciation of the works of Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw can be attained. No longer is Love You Forever, a mere children’s book filled with life lessons and experiences, but it becomes an experience in itself reaching towards those snapshots within us and pulling us to a world we may have long forgotten, a world that we had remembered all along.

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