Sam McBratney: Guess How Much I Love You author dies

[Big Mongo]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-54242729

Sam McBratney: Guess How Much I Love You author dies


Sam McBratney, author of the children's classic book Guess How Much I Love You, has died at the age of 77.

The author, who was born in Belfast, died on 18 September, his publisher Walker Books announced on Monday.

The tale of two nutbrown hares, who try to express their affection for each other, became a children's classic.

The book is best remembered for ending with the now well-known phrase "I love you to the moon and back".

The illustrated children's book, which was first published in 1994, was translated into 57 languages and sold more than 50 million copies worldwide.


A sequel to Guess How Much I Love You - titled Will You Be My Friend? - is due to be published later this month.

'Lovely human being'
McBratney, who graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, was a teacher before becoming a full-time author.

He was the author of more than 50 books, but was best known for his tale about the two affectionate nutbrown hares.

Karen Lotz, managing director of Walker Books Group, described McBratney as a "profoundly lovely human being".

"You could recognise his voice in a moment, he was an exceptionally talented wordsmith and always knew exactly what children would enjoy hearing the most," Ms Lotz said.

"His legacy of kindness and humour will burn bright and carry on through his stories," she added.

[Lenona]

He had three entries in the Something About the Author encyclopedia series, plus an entry in volume 44 of the Children's Literature Review encyclopedia series.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/Obituary/article/84401-obituary-sam-mcbratney.html

Excerpt:

In a statement, Karen Lotz, group managing director of the Walker Books Group in the U.K. and president and publisher of Candlewick Press in the U.S., paid tribute to the author. “Sam McBratney was a profoundly lovely human being,” she said. “You could recognize his voice in a moment—he was an exceptionally talented wordsmith and always knew exactly what children would enjoy hearing the most. Amazingly humble, he also was a hilarious storyteller and convivial companion. We never had better days than when he would come down from Ireland to visit the offices in London. Our world dims with his passing, but his legacy of kindness and humor will burn bright and carry on across time and distance through his stories, which have touched the hearts of readers around the globe.”

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/author/sam-mcbratney/
(fifteen Kirkus reviews)

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/25838.Sam_McBratney
(reader reviews)

Excerpt:
...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. But he continued writing for a more-personal reason: "the act of imagining simply makes me feel good," he says. 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. "This is not the sort of thing you expect when most of your books have been remaindered," the author admits. "But, as the frog trapped in the milk discovered, if you keep going, sometimes you find yourself walking on cream cheese."