The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse

Yep, I’m going to do it. I’m going to get a bit sentimental. Can’t help it.

The other day, my wife said I should read The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. She said it would probably take me 20 minutes or so to read, and she was confident I’d like it. She described it as heartfelt.

I shrugged and said “sure, I’ll give it a read.” And I did. It’s technically a children’s book, I guess. At least that’s how it’s listed on Wikipedia (and we all know Wikipedia is the source of truth). 😉 

Two things grabbed me immediately. The forward written by the author, and the simplicity with which he delivers his message (I don’t mean simplicity in terms of the content of the book – the content is actually pretty deep, in my opinion).

To me, this is a book about our humanity, our fears, our struggles, and our need for community and support. It shows us that we each bring something unique to the world that no one else can offer. Here’s a line from the book that stuck with me.

• Boy: “What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever said?”

• Horse: “Help.”

Dang. Not the answer I was expecting. But incredibly profound when you think about it.

For me, it was a bit like a reset button – reminding me what’s really important and what really matters in this world. And, refreshingly, it reinforces our humanness and our humanity when it’s sometimes hard to see the world through a human lens.

The interwebs tells me that Apple TV+ did an animated film based on the book. I haven’t seen it yet, so don’t really have an opinion. But the book? Yea, worth a read.

Until next week.

Cheers,

Andy

(All written content created the old-fashioned way.)