Sam McBratney

Sam McBratney &
Anita Jeram

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sam McBratney

Samuel McBratney (March 1943 – 18 September 2020) was a writer from Northern Ireland. He wrote more than fifty books for children and young adults, and is best known as the author of the best-selling children's book Guess How Much I Love You, which has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, and been translated into 57 languages. It has also spawned a pop-up version, a drove of stuffed toy hares, an animated television series and a stage play.

Sam was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. After earning a degree in history from Trinity College Dublin, he worked as a primary and secondary school teacher from 1970 until 1990, when he took early retirement to focus on writing. Sam and his wife Maralyn, a teacher, had three children, Adam, Patrick and Sarah, and six grand-children.

“I was determined to write something that children would not tire of hearing — and, just as important, something that parents would not tire of telling."

Sam wrote his first novel, Mark Time, in 1969, and then went on to write twenty-three novels by the time he retired from teaching in 1990, most of them targeted at young adult readers. After his editor suggested he write a picture book for younger readers, Sam began working with illustrator Anita Jeram on Guess How Much I Love You, which was first published by Walker Books in 1994. The book became popular quickly, selling more than 150 thousand copies within four months of its publication. It quickly became a favourite gift for new parents and other special occasions, and the book has gone on to become a modern classic. It is frequently listed among the most popular and best selling children's books of all time.

Sam died at the age of 77 on September 18, 2020, at his home in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

He once said, “I was determined to write something that children would not tire of hearing — and, just as important, something that parents would not tire of telling. Instead of making bedtime reading a chore for the grown-ups, make it a celebration.”

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Anita Jeram

Anita Jeram (born 1965) is an English author and illustrator of picture books for children. Growing up in Portsmouth, England, Anita always enjoyed drawing (especially animals), but worked in many different fields before pursuing a degree in art and illustration at Manchester Polytechnic. Her first book, Bill’s Belly Button, was published in 1991, a year after she graduated.

She would go on to write many other books, like Contrary Mary (1995), Bunny, My Honey (1999), and I Love My Little Storybook (2002). But Anita is most well known for being the illustrator of Sam McBratney's best-selling children’s classic, Guess How Much I Love You, which has sold over 50 million copies worldwide, and has been translated into 57 languages.

Anita would go on to team up with the directors of Two Bad Mice Publishers Ltd. They have said of her work, “Anita is a prolific watercolourist with an extraordinary gift for making the characters live on the page. When you look closely you will discover that every animal in her pictures are busy doing their own thing and each has its own individuality.”

Anita lives with her husband, three children and many animals in Northern Ireland. 📖