I think the illustrations were a poor match for the text. I've questioned why Munsch approved them, as he originally wrote the story for two of his children who were born stillborn.

My take is that it's a positive spin on the "Stabat Mater" type song of parental lament over a dead child, an attempt by the author to imagine what could have been through the lens of melancholic parental love. Maybe it should be taken literally...that the mother, if given the opportunity to see her children through life, would have hung on their every treasured breath in joy and gratitude.

Wow. Even writing that made me tear up. I'm a hot mess.

What is to give light must endure burning.