Guess How Much I Love You



Guess How Much I Love You is a best-selling series of picture books written by Sam McBratney and illustrated by Anita Jeram. The stories focus on the adventures of two hares in a meadow, Little Nutbrown Hare and his father, Big Nutbrown Hare. The original book in the series was first published in the mid 90s, and its success led to a number of follow-ups in the late 2000s. The original book has also been released in a number of formats, including pop-up, sweetheart edition and baby book. The stories have also been adapted for children's theatre, as well as animated storybooks.

The books in the series are as follows:


 * Guess How Much I Love You (1994)
 * Colors Everywhere (2008)
 * Let's Play in the Snow (2008)
 * When I'm Big (2008)
 * A Surprise for the Nutbrown Hares (2009)
 * The Adventures of Little Nutbrown Hare (Upcoming, August 2012 - 72 pages, compilation volume featuring four new stories)

In 2011, an Animated Adaptation, subtitled The Adventures of Little Nutbrown Hare was commissioned by SLR Productions and began airing on Disney Junior in a number of non-U.S. markets. The program began airing in the U.S. on March 23, 2012 with the premiere of the 24/7 Disney Junior network. The creators of the program employed a set of complex technical processses to give the program the appearance that a watercolor storybook had been brought to life on-screen. Notably, it's probably one of the few shows on Disney Junior that doesn't seem to an Edutainment Show by not actively trying to teach anything, not even aesops or pro-social values.

The various incarnations of Guess How Much I Love You features examples of:

 * Disembodied Eyebrows: Disemobied whiskers, actually, seen when the characters are shown at certain angles. This was actually first seen in the original picture books and has carried to the TV series.
 * Expressive Ears: Quite noticeable with both of the Nutbrown Hares, though with Little Nutbrown Hare more so, do to his frequently shifting emotions as a youngster. Sometimes seen with some of the other characters, though it's not nearly as noticeable.
 * Full-Name Basis: Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare are father and son (something that's confirmed by the TV series), but always refer to each other by their full names, which feels more than a little odd. In the TV series, most of the other characters are referred to by full names as well.
 * It's Always Spring: A conscious effort has been made to avert this in the TV series. The program is said to have been designed as a sort of romp through the seasons and each story finds the characters exploring the delights of a different one.
 * Missing Mom: It's a good thing Little and Big Nutbrown Hares' love for each other is so big, because Mom is nowhere to be seen. Given the young age group the series is targeted at, no attempt is made to explain this.
 * Scenery Porn: The TV series is lush with colors and beautiful backgrounds.
 * Slice of Life: Very much show, particularly the TV series
 * Title Theme Tune: In the U.K. version of the TV series, performed by Little Nutbrown Hare only, but in the U.S. version, Big Nutbrown Hare joins for some of the song as well. An official video of the U.K. version can be heard here.