Stuff you should read: ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’

Warning: you might cry. 

Sometimes, crying gives you the emotional relief that nothing else will, so it is necessary, and in some cases encouraged. To be vulnerable is an act of bravery, and that is one of the many lessons this book offers. After all, we’re highly emotional people, and it makes no sense to suppress those emotions because of what others might think. I wish somebody had told me that when I was a kid, and it makes me happy to know this book is showing kids today how to cope with that difficult and undecipherable thing called life. But this book can actually help whoever picks it up. Children’s books are special as they target our most sincere emotions without using too many words, their language is universal, and the stories have no age limit despite what the genre might suggest. Anyone can enjoy a children’s book.

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” by Charlie Mackey became one of my favorite books after I picked it up in Barnes & Noble and read it in one sitting. It’s a quick read, takes about fifteen or twenty minutes, but it stays with you for a lifetime. This is the kind of book you can visit whenever you feel lost or scared or alone. It will put a smile on your face and remind you of the beauty of life. 

The plot is pretty straightforward: a boy becomes friends with a mole, they talk about life’s pleasures and their fears, and along the way they run into a fox who doesn’t talk much but feels relieved by the company, and the three friends eventually meet a horse who follows them in their existential adventure. Theirs is a beautiful and pure friendship. Each character has something different to offer and it’s likely that readers will identify parts of themselves in those characters. I related to the mole and the fox the most. Throughout most of the book I felt as if Mackey was speaking directly at me. Suddenly he knew all of my insecurities, my ambitions, my doubts, and even my moments of weakness. But I was glad to feel that. Nobody should go through those emotions alone, and for the people who might feel lonely at the moment, this book can be the perfect companion.

I could try to explain why this book has that powerful effect, but my words can’t do justice to the actual story. It isn’t the kind of narrative that can be broken down with words, as it involves illustrations and a distinct font, all of which create a unique effect that no other children’s book has. The author illustrated the entire book by hand and gave life to his characters in a way that prose cannot accomplish. As for the actual words, they’re mostly dialogue, fast-paced and straight to the point. The simplicity of the conversations is successful as the topics addressed by the characters are heavy and sensitive, and this contrast allows an activity of self-reflection that would seem tedious outside of this book, but thanks to its language, it becomes special.  

One of the biggest takeaways of the story is the importance of friendship. I strongly believe that someone doesn’t need dozens of friends to be happy in life. A few good friends, true friends, are better than lots of mediocre ones. But these special friendships make life enjoyable and all the difficult moments seem lighter. We tend to take our friendships for granted and never stop to thank them for simply existing. Why is that?

But the moment that hit me the hardest was when the mole encouraged the boy to be kind on himself. That’s another thing we forget about, but it is essential for our happiness. We carry countless burdens on our own, most of them self-inflicted, and we don’t consider how many of these could be lifted if we just learned how to forgive ourselves. I’m grateful for this book because it taught me how to do that. So do yourself an act of kindness today and go read it. You will thank me later.