The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

A little mid-week snack or, perhaps, a mid-week pick me up…

I absolutely adore picture books. I love well told stories, but pairing them with beautiful illustrations seals the deal for me. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy is high among my favorites.

The relatively short book isn’t quite a complete story, and yet, there is a cohesive narrative that runs through it. It initially chronicles interactions between the Boy and the Mole. Soon enough, the Fox enters the picture and the challenges of the Mole and the Fox socializing are quickly acknowledged. Later the Horse enters the scene and our merry band of characters is complete.

So, what is the book really about? It’s about brokenness. The brokenness of yourself and that of others. It’s about acceptance. Acceptance of yourself and of others. It’s about love. Love of yourself and love of others. It’s about the differences that we all have that make us individually unique, but so much more collectively.

Our world is becoming more fractured and more divisive, it seems. We’re quick to argue and quick to take sides. It has become easy and common to think of “us” and “them” instead of just us. In The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy has provided a quiet respite to the noise of the present day and a gentle but powerful reminder of how vulnerable and unsure of ourselves most of us really are and how together is better than apart, even when or even because we’re different.

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