The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – Charlie Mackesy
100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: A lonely and lost boy meets a mole, fox and horse on his way home and learns lessons about love, friendship and confidence along the way.
Expectation: A warm hug for the soul.
Reality: A few reminders for how to live a fulfilled life, but there’s a lack of cohesiveness that detracts from the messages.
Recommended For: Kids, teens, new graduates and anyone that can’t afford therapy.
Why I Read It: People on #Bookstagram had been gushing about it, and I needed a pick-me-up.
My Take:
“What do you think is the biggest waste of time?”
“Comparing yourself to others,” said the mole.
Released a few months before the pandemic took hold, Charlie Mackesy’s book of illustrated maxims became a quarantine staple for readers, as it connected us to the humanity we wanted to experience and not the one we were witnessing.
Mackesy has a knack for delivering exactly the right message to the person that needs to see it (mine is above), and the entire graphic novel is filled with similar short conversations between the boy and his animal companions that will give you a few seconds of pause.
Love, regret, fear, anger and living authentically are all presented in a way that can appeal to readers of all ages — in fact Mackesy states it’s for people from “eighty to eight”— and its brief word count and heavily illustrated pages don’t require a huge time investment.
Maybe my steel trap of a heart is too numb to embrace it for what it is — a short hug for the soul — but I’m surprised by the excessive praise. When it was finished my initial thought was “cute, but that’s it?” There’s no cohesive story and the cursive font is difficult to read. I’m probably being overly critical due to all the buzz prior to reading it, but I wanted more from this.
Still, this will likely become a staple of the graduation gift circuit, and it’s the perfect gift for someone entering a new phase of life.
Rating (story): 4/5 stars
Rating (narration): N/A
Formats: Hardcover (personal library)
Date read: March 14, 2021
Multi-tasking: N/A
