NOTABLE DEATHS ELSEWHERE

SAM McBRATNEY, 77

Irish children’s author

Sam McBratney, the Irish children’s author whose picture story of ever-wider and higher devotion “Guess How I Much Love You” became bedtime reading for millions of families, has died.

Candlewick Press announced that McBratney died Friday at age 77. Additional details were not immediately available. His death comes less than two weeks before the publication of “Will You Be My Friend?”, a companion to his 1994 classic, which has sold more than 50 million copies and has been translated into 57 languages.

“Sam McBratney was a profoundly lovely human being,” Karen Lotz, group managing director of Candlewick’s parent company Walker Books Group, said in a statement

Monday. “You could recognize his voice in a moment — he was an exceptionally talented wordsmith and always knew exactly what children would enjoy hearing the most. Amazingly humble, he also was a hilarious storyteller and convivial companion.”

McBratney would call his famous book “a lighthearted little story designed to help a big one and a wee one enjoy the pleasure of being together.” With illustrations by Anita Jeram, “Guess How Much I Love You” tells of older and younger nutbrown hares — presumed to be father and son — and their game of one-upmanship as each declares his feelings for the other, with the title a question repeated throughout.

McBratney is survived by his wife of 56 years, Marilyn; three children and six grandchildren