Northern Irish writer Sam McBratney, known for the children’s book Guess how much I love you, passed away last Friday at the age of 77. His publishing house Walker Books made his passing away Tuesday announced.
From the illustration book Guess how much I love you from 1994, more than 50 million copies were sold worldwide. It was also translated into more than 57 languages. It includes illustrations by Anita Jeram.
The book tells the story of the two hares Hazeltje and Grote Haas, who try to show each other how much they love each other. The most famous phrase from the book is “I love you to the moon and back”.
A cartoon and a play were also made of the children’s book.
Publisher thought story was too simple
McBratney said earlier an interview that his publisher warned him that the story might be too simple for people. “But it was far from it. It took me six months to write it. And in that time you weigh every word.”
Before McBratney started writing books, he worked as a teacher at a school. In his career he wrote at least fifty books. A sequel will be released later this month Guess how much I love you from. That book is about Hazeltje who is looking for and is called a new friend Do you want to be my friend?.
It is unknown why McBratney died. He was married to his wife Maralyn for 56 years and had three children.
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