Sam McBratney has died. He was a writer of books for children and adults. He was best known for the children’s bestseller “Guess How Much I Love You” which is arguably his most well-known story. The picture book follows two nutbrown hares, more than likely father and son. The story was translated into 57 anguages and has sold over 43 million copies worldwide.
He shared this valuable information about writing for children in an 2011 Reading Rockets interview: “Well, there’s no such thing as a formula. You cannot say writing a picture book — good ones — is a formula. But I do have an approach, which I tend to take. And I would summarize it by saying I tend to look for significant moments of interaction between a big one and a wee one, usually parent and child. I try to render that, I try to describe that interaction truthfully and I try to render it with a light touch.”
Good-bye, Sam, you will be missed.
