Charlie Mackesy’s first book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, published in 2019, is special. It is just so charming, and the illustrations are so gorgeous. The characters climbed straight off the pages into my heart. The author’s voice is so clear, so warm, that when he speaks to the reader you do feel as if he is talking just to you, in the kindest way. So, when I saw on IG that he has published another book with these characters, I immediately ordered it, but there was a wait of a few months for it to reach Canadian bookshelves. It was worth waiting for though. (The book inspired a song – it’s at the bottom of the post.)
Always Remember
Always Remember – The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm is a little gem. “Little” because the book is only 17.4 x 22.3 cm, but every page, every illustration, every word (handwritten!) is simply…beautiful. From the printing to the art and the narrative – it’s all just so lovely that it makes me want to hug the book. I think to myself: this is mine. It’s a keeper. I’m not gifting this to anyone.
Always Remember – The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm, by Charlie Mackesy (Literary Graphic Novel, Ethics & Morality (book); Publisher: Penguin Life; Publication date: Oct. 14, 2025; 128 pages; hardcover; Dimensions : 17.37 x 2.36 x 22.28 cm)
It’s sitting on my desk and that’s where it’s going to stay for a while, so I can pick a drawing every so often and study how he manages to depict the essence of a landscape or a character with just a few lines and shapes.
The mole is no more than a teardrop-shaped bobble with four small, paddle-looking limbs, yet, it is the very essence of mole-ishness. The boy is mostly fluffy hair and pudgy cheeks. Yet, he is a child in every way you look at him, from his walk to his gaze. And the most amazing is the horse, which, with a few lines, Mackesy turns into a handsome beast, with wings! And when the horse and the boy touch noses, it is just the sweetest image.
Image from @charliemackesyThis image that I took does not represent the quality of the images in the book. Obviously, in the book they are pristine.
No wonder that Charlie – yes, I do think of him as a familiar face whose posts I read and who I call by his first name – showed a photo of his studio that looks chaotic; papers lying in drifts, materials everywhere, covering the walls and the floor. This was 128 pages of art in the making: his main painting method is felt-tip pens and water, with which he creates his signature watercolour effect. His style is described as painterly realism.
As to the story: Like with the previous book, it is more of a poetic or philosophical journey than a narrative with a start, middle, end, plot and climax. And you may or may not agree with what he writes, and how he looks at the world. But the boy, and his friends, represent a little something in every one of us. Sometimes the text is quite droll – which does lighten the tone, always just in the right spot:
“I got you an even bigger cake,” said the mole. “Did you? That was kind.” “Yes, but it was very hard to carry.” “Oh no. Poor you, how did you manage?” “I ate it.”
Always Remember, by Charlie Mackesy
This quote highlights one of the unusual things about the book: since each page is an artwork, similar to being displayed in a gallery, there are no page numbers. And the characters are not written as proper nouns, and they don’t have names: it is just “the boy”, not “the Boy”; and “the horse”, not “the Horse”. That does put them in the category of character archetypes, but their behaviour and appearance are still idiosyncratic enough that they do not become bland or clichéd. The fox is still a fox, a bit sly and shy. The horse is still mythical and is more a winged deity than a stable horse.
Out with the ugly, for a bit
IG is full of people who post positive, life-affirming messages – at least on my feeds. I have enough hassles in my life and I don’t follow anyone whose feeds are nasty, sweary, ugly, or the kind of thing you need “Unsee Juice” for. So, I understand that there is a market for uplifting content. I get that this is another line of information product, which boosts the posters’ profiles with likes and repeated comments. I do sometimes feel that some of these people are, back at the ranch, so to speak, deeply cynical, and possibly fake.
Not Charlie Mackesy. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse came out seven years ago. He’s been consistently…Charlie. Look at what he’s done in his life, and you’ll recognize his voice. On IG, to date, he’s put 3,208 posts, and has 2 million followers. Throughout, this is what he does, what he writes, paints, and believes.
On May 17, 2024, he posted this:
“Hello – I’m in my grubby studio, surrounded by mess and half finished words and sentences. I wanted to say hello in the middle of it all and say to you, whatever it is you dream to do, don’t give up – even if it feels out of reach – just take the steps, make the marks, ignore the negative voices, and do it anyway. X”
On that day, I took a little dash of courage from his message.
When you read the text of Always Remember, it is more complete than the textual prompts that you get in a typical graphic novel. The meaning behind the words is basically; when a storm hits you, you are strong because you are loved. Always remember – someone loves YOU. Love, in all its permutations, is what you need, to misquote The Beatles.
Not (only) Children’s Literature
You might think that, with these characters, it’s a children’s book. It is, but the ideas and language are not pitched at children’s levels of comprehension. He does not talk down to children. Like all books that are potentially timeless, the ideas and language are accessible and universal. The Winnie-the-Pooh books, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Little Prince, The Neverending Story, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – too many books to list here – might seem to be for children, perhaps because their main characters are young. Yet, adults (children of all ages) have read them and loved them, and found meaning in them. It is the same with Always Remember.
Why you need this book
Why read it? Because, Lord knows, in these trying times, we need authenticity, we need hope, we need real reasons to keep our heads up and keep on going. We need to be kind to others, because there’s not enough kindness in the world. We need beauty. We need art. And, lastly, you need to read this to your children and talk to them about it. So readers, go buy it.
Last (musical) notes
Charlie included a recipe for the mole’s “Cake of Love” on the last page. The mole sure does love cake. Can’t blame him, though, I do too. Charlie also put a drawing that looks like a music score, with some lyrics, on the front and end inside covers. I’m sure that those two pages are the start of the score for the films of the books that are surely in the works.
The words (lyrics) in the drawing are: “The blue sky above never leaves/Shelter with us/For every bird that sings – one is listening.” Me being me, of course, I could not resist taking this apart and trying to identify the melody. I did, and wrote a song with it. Here it is, below. My score of the notes in the illustration can be heard in the melody that comes in at 00:12 secs. This forms the theme of the song, and repeats throughout.
Here is the score for the basic piano melody. I’m not a trained musician, so this is the best I could do to put down the notes, and then make them harmonize.
The Blue Sky Above (Always Remember) – By Cōdae
Source image for inspiration: From Always Remember, by @charliemackesy
SEVEN CIRCUMSTANCES 
Charlie Mackesy’s first book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, published in 2019, is special. It is just so charming, and the illustrations are so gorgeous. The characters climbed straight off the pages into my heart. The author’s voice is so clear, so warm, that when he speaks to the reader you do feel as if he is talking just to you, in the kindest way. So, when I saw on IG that he has published another book with these characters, I immediately ordered it, but there was a wait of a few months for it to reach Canadian bookshelves. It was worth waiting for though. (The book inspired a song – it’s at the bottom of the post.)
Always Remember
Always Remember – The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm is a little gem. “Little” because the book is only 17.4 x 22.3 cm, but every page, every illustration, every word (handwritten!) is simply…beautiful. From the printing to the art and the narrative – it’s all just so lovely that it makes me want to hug the book. I think to myself: this is mine. It’s a keeper. I’m not gifting this to anyone.
It’s sitting on my desk and that’s where it’s going to stay for a while, so I can pick a drawing every so often and study how he manages to depict the essence of a landscape or a character with just a few lines and shapes.
The mole is no more than a teardrop-shaped bobble with four small, paddle-looking limbs, yet, it is the very essence of mole-ishness. The boy is mostly fluffy hair and pudgy cheeks. Yet, he is a child in every way you look at him, from his walk to his gaze. And the most amazing is the horse, which, with a few lines, Mackesy turns into a handsome beast, with wings! And when the horse and the boy touch noses, it is just the sweetest image.
No wonder that Charlie – yes, I do think of him as a familiar face whose posts I read and who I call by his first name – showed a photo of his studio that looks chaotic; papers lying in drifts, materials everywhere, covering the walls and the floor. This was 128 pages of art in the making: his main painting method is felt-tip pens and water, with which he creates his signature watercolour effect. His style is described as painterly realism.
As to the story: Like with the previous book, it is more of a poetic or philosophical journey than a narrative with a start, middle, end, plot and climax. And you may or may not agree with what he writes, and how he looks at the world. But the boy, and his friends, represent a little something in every one of us. Sometimes the text is quite droll – which does lighten the tone, always just in the right spot:
This quote highlights one of the unusual things about the book: since each page is an artwork, similar to being displayed in a gallery, there are no page numbers. And the characters are not written as proper nouns, and they don’t have names: it is just “the boy”, not “the Boy”; and “the horse”, not “the Horse”. That does put them in the category of character archetypes, but their behaviour and appearance are still idiosyncratic enough that they do not become bland or clichéd. The fox is still a fox, a bit sly and shy. The horse is still mythical and is more a winged deity than a stable horse.
Out with the ugly, for a bit
IG is full of people who post positive, life-affirming messages – at least on my feeds. I have enough hassles in my life and I don’t follow anyone whose feeds are nasty, sweary, ugly, or the kind of thing you need “Unsee Juice” for. So, I understand that there is a market for uplifting content. I get that this is another line of information product, which boosts the posters’ profiles with likes and repeated comments. I do sometimes feel that some of these people are, back at the ranch, so to speak, deeply cynical, and possibly fake.
Not Charlie Mackesy. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse came out seven years ago. He’s been consistently…Charlie. Look at what he’s done in his life, and you’ll recognize his voice. On IG, to date, he’s put 3,208 posts, and has 2 million followers. Throughout, this is what he does, what he writes, paints, and believes.
On May 17, 2024, he posted this:
On that day, I took a little dash of courage from his message.
When you read the text of Always Remember, it is more complete than the textual prompts that you get in a typical graphic novel. The meaning behind the words is basically; when a storm hits you, you are strong because you are loved. Always remember – someone loves YOU. Love, in all its permutations, is what you need, to misquote The Beatles.
Not (only) Children’s Literature
You might think that, with these characters, it’s a children’s book. It is, but the ideas and language are not pitched at children’s levels of comprehension. He does not talk down to children. Like all books that are potentially timeless, the ideas and language are accessible and universal. The Winnie-the-Pooh books, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Little Prince, The Neverending Story, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – too many books to list here – might seem to be for children, perhaps because their main characters are young. Yet, adults (children of all ages) have read them and loved them, and found meaning in them. It is the same with Always Remember.
Why you need this book
Why read it? Because, Lord knows, in these trying times, we need authenticity, we need hope, we need real reasons to keep our heads up and keep on going. We need to be kind to others, because there’s not enough kindness in the world. We need beauty. We need art. And, lastly, you need to read this to your children and talk to them about it. So readers, go buy it.
Last (musical) notes
Charlie included a recipe for the mole’s “Cake of Love” on the last page. The mole sure does love cake. Can’t blame him, though, I do too. Charlie also put a drawing that looks like a music score, with some lyrics, on the front and end inside covers. I’m sure that those two pages are the start of the score for the films of the books that are surely in the works.
The words (lyrics) in the drawing are: “The blue sky above never leaves/Shelter with us/For every bird that sings – one is listening.” Me being me, of course, I could not resist taking this apart and trying to identify the melody. I did, and wrote a song with it. Here it is, below. My score of the notes in the illustration can be heard in the melody that comes in at 00:12 secs. This forms the theme of the song, and repeats throughout.
The Blue Sky Above (Always Remember) – By Cōdae
Source image for inspiration: From Always Remember, by @charliemackesy
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