“As Guess How Much I Love You achieved great success and acclaim, Sam never failed to express his profound surprise at the power of the message within his text.

He took early retirement to focus on his career as an author, travelling the world to share his books with readers. Little Nutbrown Hare’s world suddenly glows with the discovery of friendship,” McBratney said of that book.īorn in Belfast, McBratney went to grammar school and then to Trinity College, Dublin, before working as a teacher at a further education college, a grammar school and a primary school. This story is about one of those moments. “When writing about the hares, I aim to describe moments of emotional significance but with loads of humour and the lightest of touches. McBratney, who said that “it’s as difficult to write a fine picture book, one that stands out from the crowd, as it is to write a fine novel”, praised Jeram’s illustrations, saying that “there’s a gangly awkwardness, a boneyness, about hares, that has captured, and with such a lovely soft palette”.Ī sequel to Guess How Much I Love You, called Will You Be My Friend?, is due to be published on 29 September. He wrote: ‘On good nights my little girl loves me all the way to the moon, but on bad nights she only loves me to the door.’ If you’re a parent (or a grandparent like myself), here’s hoping that you mostly make it to the moon. “I’d like to share with you one comment a father sent me. This evening, somewhere in the world, a mum or dad will be reading Guess with someone special,” he said last year, to mark the book’s 25th anniversary.

“You turn the pages, you read the words, you do the actions and you play the game. But for McBratney, the book was just “a lighthearted little story designed to help a big one and a wee one enjoy the pleasure of being together”. Walker said that McBratney’s phrase, “I love you to the moon and back” had “taken on iconic status”, while the book had sparked an animated TV show, a stage play and toys. Photograph: Simon Graham/Harrison Photography Sam McBratney, author of Guess How Much I Love You.

Nutbrown hare story