[Review of earlier edition and format:] One of my all-time favorites. I cry every time I read it.... [The book] is a beautiful script about parenthood, a poignant parable about life and death, a testimony to when the roles of child and parent become blurry. The story reminds you that no matter how grown up you are, you're always someone's child; that no matter how "adult" you are, you're never too old to be loved by your parents. It makes me appreciate even more how my mother still calls me and my brother (despite us being 32- and 22-years-old, respectively) by our childhood nicknames, Pussycat and Tchotchke (Yiddish for "knickknack"). Pigeonholing this as a children's book is like saying "Romeo & Juliet" is merely a cautionary tale about drug abuse. I dare anyone to read this story and not shed at least one tear by the end. It's even more poignant when you learn that Munsch wrote the book as a memorial to two still-born children he and his wife had in 1979 and 1980.
Recommended.
Canadian Review of Materials - Dave Jenkins
[Review of earlier edition and format:] The best of Munsch's many storybooks... it'll give you a new song to sing... and maybe a bit of perspective down the road.
Calgary Herald - Leanne Dohy
[Review of earlier edition and format:] There are certain books about a parent's unconditional love for a child that are timelessand this is one of them.
[Review of earlier edition and format:] My children and I enjoyed it, night after night, for years... It is a charmer. The simple story touches the heart.
Louisville Courier-Journal - Jeith L. Runyon
[Review of earlier edition and format:] No one can read this without the tears falling.
Madera Tribune - Sharon Owen
[Earlier edition and format:] This best-selling classic of a parent's enduring love is available in a gift edition: slipcased with a laminated box and a clothbound book.
[Review of earlier edition and format:] A humorous, sentimental page-turner that rarely let's say never leaves a reader with a dry eye.
Globe and Mail - Gayle MacDonald
[Review of earlier edition and format:] There is a powerful, age-old resonance to the story, centered on that intangible, steadfast bond between mother and child.
National Post - Shelley Fralic
[Review of earlier edition and format:] This book is beyond emotional. I dare any mother out there, or any child with an aging parent, to read this story and not have a lump in your throat... Should definitely be apart of your child's book collection.
[Review of earlier edition and format:] Our No. 1 Favorite, 50 Great Children's Books
OC Family - Susan Belkapp
[Review of earlier edition and format:] The one book that has the most meaning to me.
Boston Globe - David Maloof
[Review of earlier edition and format:] Sentimental story that has long been a favorite gift at baby showers.
Bridgewater Courier News - Karen T.Bilton
[Review of earlier edition and format:] The starting point for a first-rate library for your grandchildren... a tender ode to the life cycle of a family.
Outlook Magazine - John Lownsbrough
Originally published in 1986, this Robert Munsch classic has not lost its appeal. It is now available in a new pop-up edition which will make a great gift for the new babies of the 21st century... In this new edition we have wonderful double-page spreads and gatefolds with features that enable a rocking motion each time the chorus is repeated. The paper engineering by Bruce Foster is exemplary and little fingers will be delighted with the pop-ups and the motion.
Resource Links - Victoria Pennell
[Earlier edition and format.] #5 on Instructor's "Teachers Pick the Top 50 Kids Books Ever", chosen by 200 teachers, authors, and children's literature experts.
Good children's book showing a mother's enduring love for her son. Several pop-ups and pull tabs make a nice addition to this edition.
Metroland Media - Glenn Perrett
[Review of earlier edition and format:] Sentimental story that has long been a favorite gift at baby showers
Bridgewater Courier News - Karen T Bilton
[Review of earlier edition and format:] This book is beyond emotional I dare any mother out there, or any child with an aging parent, to read this story and not have a lump in your throat Should definitely be apart of your child's book collection
[Review of earlier edition and format:] My children and I enjoyed it, night after night, for years It is a charmer The simple story touches the heart
Louisville Courier-Journal - Jeith L Runyon
2017-09-18 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)