The boy is the first we meet. He’s been lonely but when he meets the mole they spend lots of time together gazing into ‘the wild’, which is a little bit like life, very beautiful but sometimes rather scary. When they decide to start their wanderings they meet the fox, which could be a little difficult, especially if you’re a mole. Lastly, they meet the horse, the biggest of the four, but also the gentlest.
These four are all so different, just like we are, and they all have their own strengths and weaknesses, just like we do.
They are all into the philosophy of life and living – with cake being the most important thing if you are the mole – and many wise things are said to help each other.
‘Sometimes I feel lost,’ said the boy. ‘Me too,’ said the mole,‘but we love you, and love brings you home.’
But when the horse joins the other three, the boy is very excited. He goes for a gallop, and yes, he falls off. No damage done but we meet the horse and what a philosopher he turns out to be!
I have read this book, with such evocative illustrations and only a line of text on each page, many times now and will read it again and again. It made me weep but not because it is sad but because it is so simply and beautifully written with the artwork oozing love and friendship on every page.
Reviewed by Merle Morcom
See also The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse: The Animated Story
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
British artist, illustrator and author Charlie Mackesy began his career as a cartoonist for The Spectator, before becoming a book illustrator for Oxford University Press. His award-winning work has featured in books, private collections, galleries and public spaces around the world.
Charlie’s beloved book is the first ever book to be awarded both the Waterstones Book of the Year and Barnes and Noble Book of the Year (2019) and has been translated into over 40 different languages and dialects. Charlie’s words and illustrations have brought comfort to many and have been shared online around the world as well as on t-shirts for Comic Relief, magazine covers, street lamp posts, school classrooms, cafés, women’s safe houses, prisons, hospital wards and as NHS hospital computer screensavers.
Charlie worked with Richard Curtis on the set of Love Actually to create a set of drawings to be auctioned for Comic Relief, and with Nelson Mandela on a lithograph project, The Unity Series. Charlie’s paintings have been exhibited widely, most recently in Sotheby’s in London. His bronzes can be found in public spaces in London, including Highgate Cemetery and the Brompton Road. Away from art, Charlie co-runs Mama Buci, a honey social enterprise in Zambia that helps families of low and no income become beekeepers. He lives between Brixton and Suffolk with his dog Barney.
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