Sam McBratney

As a child

In his own words, Sam spent his postwar childhood “in short trousers and Fair Isle jumpers.” He remembers studying for his 11-plus exam, before going to grammar school, and then on to study History and Political Science at Trinity College in Dublin.

As an adult

Sam became a teacher and taught at a further education college, a grammar school and a primary school. He took early retirement from the teaching profession to concentrate on his career as a writer. Sam is married with three grown-up children and a teenage tortoise, and lives in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

As an artist

Sam has won many awards for his children’s books and is best known as the author of the multi-million selling Guess How Much I Love You which was shortlisted for the 1994 Kurt Maschler Award, and is now one of the world’s best-selling picture books. In 2004, Sam reunited with Guess How Much I Love You illustrator Anita Jeram to produce the follow-up, You’re All My Favourites, and the two of them collaborated again in 2007 to produce a series of brand-new storybooks featuring the Nutbrown Hares: Guess How Much I Love You in the Spring followed by Summer, Autumn and Winter and brought together in Guess How Much I Love You All Year Round.