Guess How Much I Love you is set amongst the backdrop of what appears to be quaint English countryside in the summer of a year unknown.
Little Nutbrown Hare is a young and naive hare trying to find his way in the world. He has an unbridled innocence and an enthusiasm for life that you'd only expect from one very cloistered from its harsh realities. The story begins by his asking a fellow hare if he knows how much he loves him. The question however is rhetorical (author McBratney does well here to get this grammatically correct). Little Nutbrown Hare answers his own question through joyous expression but Big Nutbrown Hare immediately responds with an answer of his own which includes far greater hyperbole and significantly diminishes Little Nutbrown Hare's answer. This sets the tone for the rest of the story.
Big Nutbrown Hare as his name implies is BIG. He dwarfs Little Nutbrown Hare significantly (the illustrations suggest by as much as 5 times in hight) and whilst some of the difference in size might be attributable to age difference there is possibly some genetic mutation at play (an important facet which I think the author McBartney could have spent more time exploring). It follows from this that one might conclude Big Nutbrown Hare is ostracized in the general hare community (as freaks in societies often are) and starved for social contact he latches onto the young and naive Little Nutbrown Hare.
Unfortunately, as opposed to being a mutually beneficial relationship, Big Nutbrown Hare's lonely life has left him incredibly insecure and Little Nutbrown Hare is the perfect muse unto which he can project those insecurities.
This happens not in the way of direct or subtle putdowns (although it must be said that despite the authors best efforts to avoid it there is clearly a patronizing undertone from by Big Nutbrown Hare to Little Nutbrown Hare) but through a 'death of a thousand cuts' type one-upmanship. You can jump? I can jump higher! You can make yourself big? I can make myself bigger! And so it continues throughout with Little Nutbrown Hare finding that no matter what he tries Big Nutbrown Hare will always go farther to end up the top
By the end of the story Little Nutbrown Hare is emotionally exhausted, his spirit crushed to the point of his experiencing an emotional breakdown. He quietly slips into a comatose state and Big Nutbrown Hare takes the opportunity to physically manhandle him into his lair. Despite having by this stage comprehensively won the battle of one-upmanship with Little Nutbrown Hare, Big Nut Nutbrown Hare can't pass up one final opportunity to overshadow him and his final hyperbole reaches stellar proportions.
McBartney's writing style is rhythmic without being fluid. As I touched on earlier he could have spent more time developing the characters and one is especially left wanting to know more about the background of the central character Little Nutbrown Hare.
The book somewhat redeems itself with sufficient use of playful verbs and subtle descriptions of the surrounding countryside that makes one yearn for more simpler times in our lives. Like our childhoods. On the balance I give the book a 7 out of 10 for what it is.
Until next time.
NCR.
