Guess How Much I Love You Reviews

• And did I mention the lovely illustrations?

  
  By A1C4PZDQ84I9MA on 2005-11-18
  I was initially introduced to this book before I had kids of my own. I hope my brother doesn't mind me telling this story. He had a nightmarish travel day with his son, including cancelled flights, stuck in the airport, I believe my nephew was about one year old at the time, he had puked, and they had no change of clothes for him. Very frustrating. He bought this book and read it to his son and found himself moved to tears by the end, the chaos of the day suddenly put into perspective.
  
  I bought this book after my first daughter was born. It hasn't made it into her top ten list, maybe because we are not a father and son, or maybe because we didn't read it in the context of a massive catharsis. But she likes it, and I like it. It illustrates the idea that a parent's love for their child is the greatest love one can feel, a feeling that can only be experienced by having kids (although it can be approximated by having medium-haired blue tabbies). No matter how much your baby loves you, you love your baby more, and they won't understand until they have a baby of their own.
  
  A minor concern: The characters are Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare. For those of us with mild dyslexia, it is too easy to refer to them as Little Brown Nut-Hair and Big Brown Nut-Hair, which is very different and considerably changes the tone of the story. I accept that this may be my personal problem, and I don't even believe it is appropriate to share it in in this format.
  
  Oh, and did I mention the lovely illustrations? As always, buy this book, thank you for listening, and goodbye.
  
  
  

• Guess How Much I Love You!

  
  By on 2000-05-05
  This is my daughter and my favorite book. She is 31/2yrs. old and we enjoy reading it every night before she goes to bed. I started to read it to her a year and a half ago when she was two years old, and now she can read it to me. It has created a special bond between us. It has to be the last book we read so she can dream about hares and her mommy and how much we love each other. We often play a game about guessing how much we love each other. She will jump as high as she can or spread her sweet little arms out as wide as they will go. I just want to thank Sam McBratney for touching our lives in such a special way. Also, I would like to thank him for the wonderful memories he has provided for me and my daughter. I know I will remember it forever, I hope my daughter does as well. Thank you Sam.
  
  

• Expresses a mother's love perfectly

  
  By on 1999-11-25
  My mom bought this for me as a gift after my first son was born. I had to go back to work when he was 3 months old. She gave it to me one weekend and I sat and read it and just started crying. It was when I read that last line--I love you all the way to the moon and back--that really touched me. It made me realize how much I was missing my baby boy during the day. I also noticed that Big Nutbrown Hare waits until the little one is asleep to say the last line. That also reflects how much a parent loves a child. He would never want to outdo his baby just because he's bigger. He let Little Nutbrown Hare go to sleep thinking he won that little game. What a sweet, sweet story.
  
  

• Appealing on many levels-a great book for toddlers.

  
  By A2B21POKQ3N09H on 2002-03-03
  There is a lot to like about this book. First of all, it has a very positive love message for fathers and sons, not all that common a theme in children's books. Secondly, the sort of "one-ups-man-ship" theme is on that naturally appeals to kids that age. The story itself is sweet without being cloying, and the illustrations are first rate.

  A great book for older pre-schoolers. As has been noted in many previous reviews, reading the book seems to stimulate a "how much do you love me" game with the kids and parents who read the book a lot. Given that the desire to be loved is one key need at this age group, a book that stimulates you to talk and play with your child in a way that distinctly communicates your love for him/her has got to be a good thing.

  This is one of those books your kid's will grow out of before you do-much to your sorrow.

  I highly recommend it.
  
  

• Awkward and Competitive

  
  By on 2002-01-15
  I love childrens' stories and I love my children but guess how little I love this book. Like cheap chocolate, it is sweet but not good quality and not very satisfying. From a literary point of view, the phrases "big nutbrown hare" and "little nutbrown hare" seem specially chosen to be hard to read outloud and if the book is aimed at children, as opposed to just their parents, the lack of rhyme or rythm is a significant negative. The bigger issue though is the underlying message about the limitted ability of children to love, or perhaps to express their love. There are many beautiful books about loving parent/child relationships out there so why settle for one which models a competitive approach where no matter how creatively the child expresses it's love the adult trumps it, even after the child has fallen asleep and can no longer respond? If I read this book to my sons, I stop before the last page; but a better solution is to leave this book at the back of the shelf and read other books such as Mama Do You Love Me? which communicates the unconditional nature of parental love while letting children know that parents can have other feelings such as anger, sadness, or fear or loneliness at the same time. As a bonus, Mama Do You Love Me? introduces children to Alaskan First Nations images as opposed to some relatively repetitive "nutbrown hares". There are so many other better books I don't even want to start listing them. Sure we want our children to grow up feeling loved and knowing how to love; do you really want them to grow up with this type of competitive feel good mush as their model?
  
  
• Still brings tears to our eyes
  By A11AU06UJMVNTD on 2000-06-13
  In this tender story about a father putting his child to bed, Sam McBratney effectively conveys the depth of the love I feel for my own children, but am often unable to put into words. Little Nutbrown Hare wants to tell his father, Big Nutbrown Hare, just how much he loves him, but no matter what measure Little Nutbrown Hare chooses, his father always loves him more. For example, Little Nutbrown Hare loves his father as high as he can hop, but Big Nutbrown Hare loves his son as high as he can hop, and he can hop much higher. Finally, the tired little rabbit tells his father he loves him right up to the moon. Big Nutbrown Hare kisses his son good night and whispers, "I love you right up to the moon-- and back."

  Anita Jeram's pen and ink and watercolor illustrations of father and son gracefully capture the love they feel for each other. She hasn't drawn the typical cute little bunnies found in many children's books; she's drawn creatures capable of expressing emotion. The expression on Little Nutbrown Hare's face as he's falling asleep is one I've seen on my own children. Her pictures also show an incredible range of movement, from stretching arms as high or as wide as possible to very gently kissing a sleeping child on the forehead.

  This is one of my favorite books. It's a standard part of any "new baby" gift I give, and everyone who has received it from me tells me that they cried when they read it. I still cry.
  
  

• A somewhat demeaning book for little ones
  By on 2003-07-25
  This is a story of the little hare trying to tell the big hare how much he loves him (her), only to be told or shown each time how much more, bigger, higher the big hare can do the things the little hare just tried to do. While it may be demonstrating that the big hare loves the little one more, it never acknowleges the little hare for what he could do. For instance, "'I love you as high as I can hop' laughed Little Nutbrown Hare... 'But I love you as high as I can hop', smiled Big Nutbrown Hare -- and he hopped so high that his ears touched the branches above. That's good hopping, thought Little Nutbrown Hare. I wish I could hop like that." In almost every instance it left the little hare wishing he could. I found the story demeaning and would never read it to my child.
  
  
• Great for parents who'd like to congratulate themselves
  By on 2003-09-03
  Many books are in print that sweetly tell children how much they are loved. In my opinion this one does a great job of glorifying narcissistic parents.

  Big Nutbrown Hare, instead of expressing gratitude for his child's expression of love (I love you as high as I can reach), immediately responds with his own bigger love that is literally impossible for the child to match. Little Nutbrown Hare wishes he could jump as high, reach as far as his parent. The book does not present this as a fun, easy-going game, but as an earnest attempt for the little rabbit to express himself.

  In my opinion the book focuses on Big Nutbrown Hare and how wonderful he is for loving his child so much. Gee, no wonder some parents get choked up reading it -- gosh aren't we great, wow shouldn't we all be impressed with ourselves?! Even the title gives it away...

  Little Nutbrown Hare finally falls asleep with the gentle message "I love you all the way to the moon". Big Nutbrown Hare waits until the little bunny is asleep and says "I love you all the way to the moon and back". The poor kid can't catch a break.
  
  

• Bigger is better?
  By A17NT9513SZDD6 on 2001-10-17
  Every time the kid rabbit tries to express his love for papa rabbit, the big one has to one-up the kid! Even after the kid nods off, papa has to have the last word. What kind of lesson is that, I wonder? When reading it to my little one, it's hard not to make sarcastic comments along the way. Now that she's reaching the age of comprehension, I don't know whether to chuck it or change my tone... :-)
  
  
• Wonderful, cute and fun to read to baby
  By A1VHK9A4VLJTHC on 2001-12-02
  My daughter loves this book, she got the cardboard edition as a gift when she was a couple months old and is currently six and a half months and has had it read to her many many times. The biggest problem I have now is getting her to listen to me or look at it with out trying to chew the book, but I suspect that she'll outgrow that stage (someday!). This story is very adorable and I think that it is comforting for a child to know that their parent(s) can and that they do love them more, after all little ones are so self centered and it is our job as good parents to help them grow out of that by showing that there is great reward in loving others more than they love us. I think there is a great allegory here about God's love for his children too, so reading this to a child can maybe get us adults to think a little deeper about our own value. This is a great story, a great book and should be given to and read to the very young (don't wait until they can read- start now). A very strong recommendation.
  
  
• Big nutbrown hare demeans little nutbrown hare over & over
  By ATQN168GW17A5 on 2004-09-05
  I'm sure the author had the best intentions in writing this book, but he failed miserably. No matter what the little bunny says, the adult bunny one-ups him. Others have written about this already, but I cannot see how anyone finds this a positive book when the adult is so competitively focused on "proving" that he loves the little bunny more than the little one loves him. (What, pray, do you get by winning this argument anyway? A child who thinks, "You're right, I don't love you all that much."?)
  
  Moreover, my 2 year old is bored stiff with the story. It's not the length - he enjoys longer stories such as "Harold and the Purple Crayon," "No Roses for Harry," and "Corduroy" - it's the content. This book should be avoided by any thinking parent.
  
  
• Competitive parent trounces child's love
  By A26WYKDZCKT9DI on 2004-09-11
  The parent must always win. The parent hare tells the baby hare how he is loved. However, when the child responds, it's never quite good enough. The parent loves more, the parent's response is bigger and grander. The poor child never quite measures up to the parent.
  
  
• Not just a children's book!
  By A3T3YXMCC1B61Z on 2006-01-08
  I'm appalled by some of the more literal and snotty reviews for this wonderful book, which is for all ages; I bought this for Paul, my same-sex partner, on Valentine's day several years ago. It's not about competitive love, it's about unconditional love. What appeals most is that the relationship between big nut brown hare and little nut brown hare is never defined, nor does it need to be.
  
  Paul, the love of my life, died last week, and I am reading this book aloud at his funeral.
  
  BTW somehow the 1 star above appearred & isn't my real opinion - it's 5 stars all the way.
  
  
• Love is not about competition
  By A13YJUIH5UBF83 on 2001-08-15
  I am a mother of two small children (ages 3 and 1) and I do not like this book. Several people have given it to us as gifts and I have gotten rid of it. It is about a competition between a parent and a child about who loves whom more. Love is not about competition--this book is nothing more than a game of "one-upsmanship" between family members. In our family we love each other without trying to quantify it. This book has been extremely overrated in my opinion and I don't understand why. I don't think its lesson is one parents should be imparting to their children
  
  
• Love unlimited - a powerful message for children
  By A23059WU8ZCRL5 on 2000-03-03
  I was browsing through the children's department of my favorite local bookstore, looking for a gift, when this title caught my eye. I settled down on the floor for a read, and fell in love.

  Big Nutbrown Hare is getting ready to put Little Nutbrown Hare to sleep for the night, when Little challenges him to guess how much he loves him. Little stretches his arms wide and says, "This much!" Big stretches his arms even wider and returns the love. Little keeps finding bigger and bigger ways to express his love for Big, and each time, Big outdoes him by virtue of his greater size. Finally, Little has to stop and ponder, and then triumphantly claims that his love for Big goes "all the way to the moon." That's a lot, Big concedes, and satisfied, Little settles down to sleep - and misses Big's whisper that he loves him "to the moon and back."

  For children anxious about being loved, I can't think of a better story to illustrate how limitless their parents' love really is. No matter how much you love me, Big is saying, I love you that much and more. A comforting message, and one that Little can sleep on.

  One of the things that makes this book unusual is that both hares are male. There is no lack of books about the love of mothers for their children, but Daddy-love is harder to find. I love the message here.

  The pen and watercolor illustrations are wonderful. The animals are perfectly drawn - not cutesy, not cartoony, they are big rangy hares, with remarkably expressive faces. No cute little fluffola bunnies here...

  I recommend this book as a valuable addition to your children's library.
  
  

• This Kind of Competition Is Hurtful
  By on 2003-10-23
  I use this book as an example of a bad parent figure. Big Nutbrown Hare competes with Little Nutbrown Hare as to who loves more. The parent figure disheartens the child figure by devaluing the little hare's feelings of love. At the end, after tearing up the smaller rabbit's self-esteem, he "gets the last word" after the smaller rabbit falls asleep, clearly unhappy. My kids feel horribly sad for the little rabbit at the end. I own the pop-up version of this book, but we rarely read it. I recommend "Mama, Do You Love Me?" or "The Runaway Bunny" over this book if you're looking for a good "loving parent" story. It could have been so much better -- real parents of young children appreciate the depth of love without resorting to competition. I do love the illustrations, though!
  
  
• The Best Book Ever!!!
  By A22D99KOH96QM1 on 2001-05-29
  We bought this book for our daughter when she was 9 months old. She has loved it ever since. I can say without any doubt, this is her favorite book (she currently has 173 books). She loves it so much that we bought 3 copies of the pop-up version. One for her to play with & read on her own (this one has been glued back together 6 times now), one in good condition that we read to her & a spare just in case something happens to one of the others. Since we live in Singapore, we don't own a car, so we often take taxis or use the subway system. Depending on the time of day, it can take up to 40 minutes to get home. When she has her book, she barely even notices. She is now 15 months old & although she can't read the book, she mimics the sound effects I make when reading it to her at the same places I do them. This was a more than wise investment. We read it together & I believe she is really starting to understand the concept of having parents who love her "up the moon & back!"
  
  
• One-upmanship by a parent
  By A1M16JY1LN7SSU on 2004-01-06
  This book is creepy. I bought it myself for my daughter because I think it's a good idea to talk about how much parents love their children. But I'm uncomfortable that at every turn, the father hare has to outdo the child hare. That doesn't seem like love, that seems like competition. I'm glad so many people like this book, and that's fine, but it doesn't work for me. I like the style of the writing and the drawings. I just think it's possible to write a book about how much parents love their kids without making it a competition between them.
  
  
• How cute! The parent belittling the child's love!
  By A2FOP0HSM0NO64 on 2006-06-12
  This is a story about belittling your child's love for you, and saying that your love for them is bigger and better. And if the child is tenacious enough to continue professing their love, wait 'til they're asleep and get the last word in. "Yahoo! I beat you, you loveless varmint!"
  
  See also my review of the book "Pig Pig" - about a mother who recognizes and crushes her son's creativity before it gets out of hand.
  
  
• My son's first book, I read it to him even before he's born.
  By on 1999-04-26
  Very sweet, touching and reflects the love that my baby is born with. When I was pregnant with my now 5 month old baby boy, my husband and I bought this book and every now and then I read it to him. I was deeply touch by it that I often end with tears in my eyes wishing I could cuddle him at that time. And now, we enjoy reading it together at bedtime while I feel every words, he enjoyed listening to me and looking at the cute pictures.We always ended up,together with my husband, the three of us cuddling each other. It's a perfect book for babies to begin with and also for parents to grow old with...unconditional boundless love. I love you Babes and Pumpkin pie right up to the moon and back!!
  
  
• Sooooo Sweet
  By ABEY76OT9VYA8 on 2004-05-03
  I love reading this story to my children. I bought it when I was pregnant with my first child and I cried when I read it. It is so sweet. I still tell my son (4years old) that I love him to the moon and back. He loves it! And so does my 2 year old daughter. Fabulous, sweet story for your children.
  
  
• I did not care for this book.
  By AA9FJOTLOAS1N on 2006-02-23
  This book did not keep my daughter's attention. I did not care for this book either. This book makes it seem like there is competition to see who loves the other person more. It is not what I expected.
  
  
• Illustrations Are Beautiful
  By A11MA69X7K5FAV on 2006-04-23
  I have to agree with the other reviewers who pointed out that this book's weakness lies in its message to the child. No matter how hard the child tries to express his love for his father, it never measures up to his father's love for him. This completely invalidates the child's love. I really don't know how this book has gotten to be so popular . . . could it be marketing? There are other books out there with which parents can explore their love for their children and their child's love for them in a more positive way.
  That said, the illustrations are beautiful.
  
  
• How to invalidate and belittle your child.
  By A15KA5UFPZ1B8A on 2006-07-19
  A child wants to tell his father he loves him, and the father turns the exchange into a cruel game of one-upmanship. The child tries and tries until he collapses, exhausted - and still the father won't accept the heartfelt message and chooses to outdo his tiny child and have the last word.
  That this book is popular and well received is disturbing to me.
  The illustrations are very nice - and I'm hoping that this is the attraction people feel, since the message borders on psychological abuse.
  
  
• Simply horrible
  By A2Q4CL4O2A8UN3 on 2005-06-09
  This book is terrible and I can't understand why so many parents think it is so great!!! If you really analyze what this book is saying, you'll see that it plainly says that no matter what your child says or feels or expresses, the parent is always better. The parent is always bigger and always outdoes the little nutbrown hare. I read this to my child and couldn't believe the message I was sending her. I will never read it again. In fact, giving it one star is generous. I will be tossing this book into the trash to take it out of circulation. Every child should be made to feel as though his or her feelings matter just as much as someone who is older and bigger.
  
  
• NO, I love you more than you can ever love me, so there!
  By on 2002-10-02
  Don't buy this book unless you enjoy belittling your child's feelings. The entire book is about the little hare telling the big hare how much he loves him, only to have the big hare trump what the little hare says with responses like, "But I love you more (e.g. longer, higher, wider, farther, etc.)." This book is going to the dumps.
  
  
• Love is a contest??
  By AR7YMS0YKYUNG on 2004-08-13
  We were given a few copies of this book after our daughter was born, and I really really wanted to like it, but neither I nor my husband could get past the father rabbit's one-upsmanship with his son. The message to children is extremely invalidating. I hate to use that word because it sounds awfully "psychobabbly," but it's the most accurate word to describe the theme of the book, where nothing the little rabbit does, including feel & express love, is as good or significant as what the big rabbit can do.
  
  I loved an earlier review that compared this book to cheap chocolate: "...sweet but not good quality and not very satisfying." I entirely agree with that reviewer's criticisms, and I'll add yet another voice to the chorus of recommendations for _Mama, Do You Love Me?_ as a far superior book which exemplifies the unconditional love a parent has for their child. I gave this book two stars instead of one only because I don't consider it truly offensive, just misguided; I saved my one-star review for another book in the same genre, _Love You Forever,_ which is truly twisted.
  
  
• A wonderful story
  By AFHVLJT02IBGT on 1999-11-18
  I bought this book for my sister when she was born. She and I have enjoyed it ever since. I think people who see this as a competative story miss the point. As children, it can be difficult to understand just how deeply our parents (and siblings, in my case) love us. In this story, the big hare shows the depth of his love and in the end allows the little hare to believe that his love is 'greater.' Yet, it also shows children that the big hare's love for the little hare is much deeper than the little hare comprehends.
  
  
• Eloquent Expressions of Parent-Child Love
  By A1K1JW1C5CUSUZ on 2000-12-16
  Guess How Much I Love You is a well-earned recipient of the Abby Award.

  This book is very uniquely plotted. Unlike most books for bedtime, the two protagonists are male (apparently father and son, although that is left unstated). And they spend the whole book describing and showing their love for one another. I know of no other book that provides this sort of man-boy modeling about expressing love and appreciation for one another.

  Yet at the same time, the "maleness" of the two characters is subdued so that the pair could be very easy to see them as female characters (a mother-daughter pair). Obviously, mixed pairs (mother-son and father-daughter) are even easier to imagine. So everyone can relate to expressing love and receiving expressions of love in return when reading this delightful story.

  The other attraction of this story is that the youngster, Little Nutbrown Hare, takes the lead. He wants to describe his love first. Children can start to be reticent about their feelings beginning around age 4, and this book should help overcome that shyness. Fathers of my generation and older have been reticent since that age with everyone, so this book will help a few parents as well to show their feelings.

  As for age level, this book should start to appeal at about age 2 1/2 to 3. You will be reading the story to your youngster at that age. In time, with memorization, you will be listening to the story. Later, you child will actually learn to read it to you.

  The illustrations are gently subdued, to help create a mood of drowsiness. Nicely done, Ms. Anita Jeram!

  The story opens with Little Nutbrown Hare on his way to sleep. He is riding on top of Big Nutbrown Hare, holding onto the larger hare's very long ears. The plot development begins when Little Nutbrown Hare raises the title challenge: Guess how much I love you.

  Little Nutbrown Hare uses his body to show how much. Big Nutbrown Hare, being larger, outdoes him when he repeats what Little Nutbrown Hare has said in terms of his own adult body. Little Nutbrown Hare then goes on to use his eyes to create even larger distances to express the greatness of his love. Big Nutbrown Hare comes up with even larger distances, based on his longer experience.

  As Little Nutbrown Hare goes to sleep after making his greatest expression of love, Big Nutbrown Hare says nothing until after Little Nutbrown Hare is in the land of nod. Then Big Nutbrown Hare makes his final expression of love . . . a very beautiful one (involving about 500,000 miles).

  After you have finished enjoying this heartfelt story, I suggest that you think about more ways that you can express your love more often to those you care about. Use the concepts in this book to come up with ways to flesh out the simple, "I love you" to make the expression more tangible to the hearer. I suspect you will receive many bouquets of expressed love as a result.

  May love be with and come from you . . . always!
  
  

• Not competetive
  By on 2003-05-25
  This is a sweet, loving introduction to a familiar game that many parents have played with their child. I can't see it as being about competition. Perhaps some of the negative reviewers never played the game of "Guess how much I love you". But it was a natural part of childhood for my children. It wasn't about competition, it was about creativiity--thinking of ways of expressing love bigger than ever before. I wouldn't dream of trying to "oneup" my children. I just liked the silly answers we would come up with in playing.

  To all the naysayers, the last line of the book is ALL about letting the child "win". The father waits until the child is asleep in the assurance he has come up with the unbeatable answer, "I Love you all the way to the moon!" But as he sleeps and the father looks at this bundle of miracle that has been bestowed upon him he says what he feels, "I love you all the way to the moon, and back". The child doesn't hear this. The father is just expressing a love he can't even define it's so big. That's not competetive or mean spirited, it's a wonderfully realistic portrayal of having a feeling of love so big that you know there is nothing bigger.

  The pictures are great. I wouldn't go board book. This book is better for older children.

  Buy it and enjoy it.
  
  

• Goodnight Moon
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
• The Going-To-Bed Book
• Pat the Bunny (Touch and Feel Book)