2-3 stars—Liked it, would recommend to certain people

Frankly, this book seriously creeped me out as a child. I probably had nightmares about old women breaking and entering and coming into my bedroom at night.

But as a mother, yes, this book is dear to me—at least the idea of it. When I'm cuddling my toddler close and already have forgotten how small he was as a baby, I cling a little harder and bite my lip to repress a sob. That's the feeling this book captures for so many mothers, and that's why it's treasured by so many women and given at so many baby showers and christenings.

Robert Munsch himself kind of creeps me out even as an adult, but when I learned that he wrote this as a song after his wife had a miscarriage, it moved me to want to give the man a side hug. Okay, maybe just a pat on the shoulder from an entire arm's length away.