Originally born as a poem that stopped mothers mid-scroll and moved them to tears, Jessica Urlichs’ You’ll Always Be My Baby, beautifully illustrated by Jedda Robaard, has been transformed into a picture book that is as gorgeous to hold as it is to read aloud.
This is a book about the one promise every mother makes without even realising it — that no matter how big their world becomes, your child will always, always be your baby. With Mother’s Day just around the corner, this is the perfect book to curl up with your little one, or to gift to the mother in your life who deserves to feel seen, celebrated, and deeply loved.
Mum’s Book Review
There are books you read to your children, and then there are books that read you. This is one of those books.
I first came across Jessica Urlichs’ words on Instagram, in the way so many tired, tender-hearted mothers do — doomscrolling late at night after finally getting little ones to sleep, heart full and cracked open all at once. So when her poem became a picture book, I ordered it without hesitation. I just didn’t expect it to land quite so hard.
We sat together on the couch, my daughter curled into the crook of my arm the way she still does — the way I hope she always will — and I read it aloud to her. I made it about four pages before my voice started to wobble. She looked up at me, a little confused, a little amused. “Mummy, are you crying?” Yes, baby. Yes I am.
Because this book captures something I have never quite found the words for myself: the quiet, aching miracle of watching your child grow, and the way your love doesn’t shrink to make room for who they’re becoming — it just stretches. It holds all the versions of them at once. The newborn. The wobbly toddler. The seven-year-old who still reaches for your hand in a crowd.
Jedda Robaard’s illustrations are rendered in the softest, most beautiful tones — warm and unhurried, like a Sunday morning. Every page feels like a memory you’re not ready to let go of yet.
We read it three times that night. I’d do it a hundred more.
If you are a mother — if you have ever held a small person and felt that fierce, almost unbearable love — this book will find you. Buy it for yourself. Buy it for a friend who’s just had a baby, or one whose baby just started school, or one who, like me, is somewhere in between: marvelling at how fast it all goes and holding on just a little tighter.
7-year-old Child Book Review
She climbed into my lap after we finished and I asked her what she thought, so here it is, exactly as she said it:
“It’s about a mummy who loves her little girl so much, even when she gets big. The pictures are really soft and pretty. My favourite bit is when the little kid is running and the mummy is still there watching. Because mummies always watch. And I think that’s nice. Actually I think that’s really nice.”