Four very different characters take centre stage in this unusual and beautifully illustrated book. There’s a horse, wise and reliable; a boy, Christopher Robin-like in his curiosity and kindness; a mole, driven by an optimism, and love of cake; and a fox, vulnerable and in need of love and understanding. The story of their friendship is told through Charlie Mackesy’s evocative pen and ink sketches. Most but not all are accompanied by three or four lines of text, not so much a narrative but rather meditations, little flashes of insight into the human condition: “We have such a long way to go,” sighed the boy. “Yes, but look how far we’ve come,” said the horse. It’s a book full of tenderness and compassion, with much to make readers smile and more yet to prompt a sense of forgiveness, even of ourselves.
Though simple enough for the youngest children, words and pictures will resonate just as much with adult readers. A very special book.
#1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER · #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A book for all ages, a book for all time, treasured by millions.
This fifth anniversary edition is bound in midnight blue cloth, with a sky blue ribbon marker and gold gilded page edges. Inside Charlie includes a new message and two new artworks.
Follow the tale of a curious boy, a greedy mole, a wary fox and a wise horse who find themselves together in sometimes difficult terrain, sharing their greatest fears and biggest discoveries about vulnerability, kindness, hope, friendship and love. Charlie Mackesy's The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse was adapted into the BAFTA and Academy Award®winning animated short film.
"A wonderful work of art and a wonderful window into the human heart." Richard Curtis
Artist Charlie Mackesy has been a cartoonist for The Spectator and a book illustrator for Oxford University Press. He has collaborated with Richard Curtis for Comic Relief, and Nelson Mandela on a lithograph project, `The Unity Series'. His first exhibition for the boy, the mole, the fox and the horse was in London in November 2018. Charlie lives in South London with his two dogs.
