Madeline Marquis

Mrs. Alstot

Child Lit Period 3

6 September 2019

Children’s Book Review

The children’s book ​Guess How Much I Love You ​by Sam McBratney is appropriate for

toddler aged children, and is valuable because it is about family and love which is an important

concept for children to understand. The book is about a father and son hare who are competing

over how much they love each other. The main symbolism in this book is shown through the

various times that Little Nutbrown Hare says he loves his dad as much as his arms can stretch, as

high he can hop, as high his toes are in a handstand, etc. Each time he says it, his dad, Big

Nutbrown Hare, repeats what he says, but he is bigger, so it’s always more than what Little

Nutbrown Hare can do. For instance, Little Nutbrown Hare says “I love you as high as I can

reach,” (McBrantey 5). Big Nutbrown Hare responds by saying “‘I love you as high as ​I ​can

reach,’ That is very high, thought Little Nutbrown Hare.” (McBrantey 6). I think that these

statements are a symbol for a parent’s love, and how a child can’t understand how much a parent

could love their child. The overall concept of love presented in this book, “... helps students

develop emotional intelligence” (Crippen 3). The imagery lies in the descriptive words that bring

the book alive. The use of high, far, wide, reach, all the way, and across, paint the image of the

setting and the characters’ actions in the reader’s head. ​Guess How Much I Love You​ also

includes figurative language to convey the story. The use of personification is a huge part of the

book as is gives human emotions such as love, to hares who are not humans. The author’s tone is
joyful and light, because the book is about family, and the author uses words and phrases like “I

love you”, “laughed”, and “smiled”. The main theme of this book is that a child could never

understand how much their parents love them.

Guess How Much I Love You​ is mostly organized by short paragraphs on each page that

are made up of simple sentences, so the book is easy for children to understand. This book has

elements of several literary tools, but the main ones are personification and repetition. As

mentioned above, personification is shown through the hares’ ability to feel human emotions.

The repetition of the phrase “I love you”, allows the author to get the message across to children.

The front cover of the book depicts Little Nutbrown Hare grabbing onto Big Nutbrown Hare’s

huge ears. This illustration previews the message of the story as it shows how much bigger Big

Nutbrown Hare’s ears are compared to Little Nutbrown Hare’s, which will soon be revealed as a

metaphor for a parent’s love. The drawn illustration that is most effective in developing this story

is when both of the hares reach their arms up, and Big Nutbrown Hare’s arms are so much higher

than Little Nutbrown Hare’s, because it is a clear example of what message the author is trying

to portray. The two hares and nature such as trees and grass are in every illustration, which I

believe helps to keep the focus on the relationship between the hares, and the message of the

story. The main characters of this story are Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare. The

dominant trait of Little Nutbrown Hare is playfulness, and the trait for Big Nutbrown Hare is

loving. Through the text it’s also shown that Big Nutbrown Hare is caring, and Little Nutbrown

Hare is ambitious, as he is always trying to do and explore new things. The illustrations portray

the hares as happy and energetic. Young children could connect with Little Nutbrown Hare’s

curiosity and optimism. Little Nutbrown Hare’s only problem is that he can never jump or reach
as high as Big Nutbrown Hare, and young children also try to do what their parents or older

siblings do, but sometimes they can’t. At the end of the book Little Nutbrown Hare goes to sleep

with the reassurance that even though he can’t do everything Big Nutbrown Hare can do, he still

knows that his dad loves him very much, more than he could ever know. The book ​Guess How

Much I Love You​ by Sam McBratney teaches toddlers the valuable lesson that your family loves

you, which is important for a child’s emotional development.