Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

'The big one is not called the father in the stories, but that's what he is. 'Most of my picture books-GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU, THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS, JUST ONE!, and JUST YOU AND ME-explore the relationship between a big one and a wee one,' the author notes. The author's father-who worked as a type compositor with the BELFAST TELEGRAPH, and whose favorite books were westerns-is the person Sam McBratney credits for giving him his love of the English language. Where does Sam McBratney get his inspiration? 'I told my children stories when they were young,' he says, 'so when I write I try to think of what they would have liked.' But there may be another source guiding his writing as well. 'But, as the frog trapped in the milk discovered, if you keep going, sometimes you find yourself walking on cream cheese.'

'This is not the sort of thing you expect when most of your books have been remaindered,' the author admits. The fifty-seventh book of Sam McBratney's career, and his first book with Candlewick Press, was the much-loved GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU, which has sold an astonishing 15 million copies worldwide, and is available in 37 languages. But he continued writing for a more-personal reason: 'the act of imagining simply makes me feel good,' he says.

Permission from Candlewick Press.The 1943 born Northern Ireland native started writing children's books when he was a teacher in his thirties, with the aim of helping out students who had trouble reading. Children and parents will love snuggling up for this one-a treat to be read again and again, just before the lights are turned out. In turn, Sam McBratney tells a simple bedtime story of sweet familial love with humor, insight, and a delightful surprise at the end. But even when his feelings stretch as long as his arms, or as high as his hops, Little Nutbrown Hare is fondly one-upped by the elder rabbit's more expansive love.Īnita Jeram's illustrations are bound to elicit an 'aw' from even the sternest of readers these loving rabbits are expressive, endearing, and never cloying.

In a heartwarming twist on the 'I-can-do-anything-you-can-do-better' theme, Little Nutbrown Hare goes through a series of declarations regarding the breadth of his love for Big Nutbrown Hare. In Guess How Much I Love You, a young rabbit named Little Nutbrown Hare thinks he's found a way to measure the boundaries of love. All children want reassurance that their parents' love runs wide and deep.

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney