Secondly, the drawings. There’s a gangly awkwardness, a boneyness, about hares, that Anita Jeram has captured, and with such a lovely soft palette. She has also perfectly caught throughout the intimacy between a big one and a wee one. What she was saying was what I later came to believe: it’s as difficult to write a fine picture book, one that stands out from the crowd, as it is to write a fine novel. Sam attributes the success of Guess How Much I Love Youto four things that came together in the creation of the book. He explains: The seed for Guess How Much I Love Youwas planted during a conversation between Sam M cBratney and his editor Caroline Royds, at Walker Books. Sam explains how it all began... First: yes, in the beginning is the word. The words are simple, direct, and true. The words came first.