Guess How Much I Love You

December 3, 2012
Little Nutbrown Hare explores five colors that can be found in his idyllic woodland home, which is as cozy as ever in Jeram’s delicate ink-and-watercolor artwork. McBratney smartly incorporates dashes of alliteration, consonance, and rhyme into the brief text (“Hello, yellow.... Good morning, green”), to aid in the learning and remembering of the colors. The name of each color also appears on a painted panel opposite scenes that show Little Nutbrown Hare meeting blue birds, red ladybugs, and other animals, before giving Big Nutbrown Hare a giant hug amid the ferns. Up to age 1.

Starred review from January 3, 1994
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.