Guess How Much I Love You (Hardcover)

by Sam McBratney (Author), Anita Jeram (Illustrator)
Key Phrases: Big Nutbrown Hare, Little Nutbrown Hare

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Little Nutbrown Hare wants very much to impress Big Nutbrown Hare with the enormous scale of his devotion, but ends up being the one who's impressed. Subtitled "a pop-up edition," this sturdy square edition of Sam McBratney's ever-popular Guess How Much I Love You is probably better described as a "slide-along edition." Some pages do include pop-ups, but they aren't the best ones; instead, most involve pull-tabs which animate the two rabbits and their surroundings. One of the most appealing scenes simply shows Little Nutbrown Hare hopping up and down. In a purely technical sense this exercise in interactive cardboard technology is well behind some of the competition, but the tale has a timeless charm and the very simplicity of the movements makes it easy for small fingers to waggle the tabs and take control of the story. (Ages 2 to 4) --Richard Farr --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
Fresh as a fiddlehead fern in spring, this beguiling bedtime tale features a pip of a young rabbit and his indulgent parent. Searching for words to tell his dad how much he loves him (and to put off bedtime just an eentsy bit longer), Little Nutbrown Hare comes up with one example after another ("I love you as high as I can hop!"), only to have Big Nutbrown Hare continually up the ante. Finally, on the edge of sleep, he comes up with a showstopper: "I love you right up to the moon." (Dad does top this declaration too, but only after his little bunny falls asleep.) Effused with tenderness, McBratney's wise, endearing and droll story is enriched by the near-monochromatic backdrop of Jeram's pen-and-wash artwork, rendered earthy tones of moss, soft brown and gray for a visually quieting effect just right for that last soothing tale before sleep. Ages 3-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (February 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763621064
• ISBN-13: 978-0763621063
• Product Dimensions: 15.5 x 13.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (316 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #701,499 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Expresses a mother's love perfectly, November 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Guess How Much I Love You (Board book)

My mom bought this for me as a gift after my first son was born. I had to go back to work when he was 3 months old. She gave it to me one weekend and I sat and read it and just started crying. It was when I read that last line--I love you all the way to the moon and back--that really touched me. It made me realize how much I was missing my baby boy during the day. I also noticed that Big Nutbrown Hare waits until the little one is asleep to say the last line. That also reflects how much a parent loves a child. He would never want to outdo his baby just because he's bigger. He let Little Nutbrown Hare go to sleep thinking he won that little game. What a sweet, sweet story.

50 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guess How Much I Love You!, May 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Guess How Much I Love You (Hardcover)

This is my daughter and my favorite book. She is 31/2yrs. old and we enjoy reading it every night before she goes to bed. I started to read it to her a year and a half ago when she was two years old, and now she can read it to me. It has created a special bond between us. It has to be the last book we read so she can dream about hares and her mommy and how much we love each other. We often play a game about guessing how much we love each other. She will jump as high as she can or spread her sweet little arms out as wide as they will go. I just want to thank Sam McBratney for touching our lives in such a special way. Also, I would like to thank him for the wonderful memories he has provided for me and my daughter. I know I will remember it forever, I hope my daughter does as well. Thank you Sam.

120 of 146 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And did I mention the lovely illustrations?, November 18, 2005

By	My Uncle Stu (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Guess How Much I Love You (Board book)

I was initially introduced to this book before I had kids of my own. I hope my brother doesn't mind me telling this story. He had a nightmarish travel day with his son, including cancelled flights, stuck in the airport, I believe my nephew was about one year old at the time, he had puked, and they had no change of clothes for him. Very frustrating. He bought this book and read it to his son and found himself moved to tears by the end, the chaos of the day suddenly put into perspective.

I bought this book after my first daughter was born. It hasn't made it into her top ten list, maybe because we are not a father and son, or maybe because we didn't read it in the context of a massive catharsis. But she likes it, and I like it. It illustrates the idea that a parent's love for their child is the greatest love one can feel, a feeling that can only be experienced by having kids (although it can be approximated by having medium-haired blue tabbies). No matter how much your baby loves you, you love your baby more, and they won't understand until they have a baby of their own.

A minor concern: The characters are Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare. For those of us with mild dyslexia, it is too easy to refer to them as Little Brown Nut-Hair and Big Brown Nut-Hair, which is very different and considerably changes the tone of the story. I accept that this may be my personal problem, and I don't even believe it is appropriate to share it in in this format.

Oh, and did I mention the lovely illustrations? As always, buy this book, thank you for listening, and goodbye.