The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse - Charlie Mackesy's Gentle Generosity

"An encounter with generosity can remind us that life always overflows our attempts to reduce it to a commodity or transaction-because it is a gift.” 

- Makoto Fujimura, in Culture Care 

    In his writing, Fujimura challenges the idea that life is merely something quantifiable. Instead, he argues that life itself fervently resists this reduction. Life is too rich, too mysterious, and too sacred for it to be flattened and twisted into such a two-dimensional idea. Generosity is what reveals this truth: not everything valuable can have a number determine its worth in order to be commodified. Life is not a product - it is a gift. 

 

 

Charlie Mackesy 

    One creative who embodies this philosophy in his work is Charlie Mackesy, author and illustrator of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. His book is a quiet and gentle masterpiece. It showcases a series of ink sketches and handwritten reflections that explore kindness, vulnerability, struggle, and friendship. It doesn't waste time with politics, religion, or complexity. In its simplicity, it is deeply human. 

    Mackesy’s creative process was a collective effort and emotionally driven. He began sketching these characters during a time of personal reflection, inspired by conversations with friends and his own internal questions. His art is intentionally imperfect and simple: with smudged ink lines, open space, and muted colors that only add to the softness of the scenes paired with handwritten text. Fully reflecting the rawness of human experience and focusing on the overwhelming truths of life through the perspective of a vulnerable child. He didn’t set out to make a bestseller; he set out to make something true. 

By opening the book with simple questions,  

                                    “What do you want to be when you grow up?” 

                                                     “Kind,” said the mole

   Mackesy sets the tone for a different kind of power. Not the power to control others, but the power to care for others and be cared for. His characters model emotional honesty, the courage to ask for help, and the strength to act to both be loved and love. These themes directly reflect Fujimura’s call for generative creativity: art that gives more than it takes. Art that calls to action generosity and brings about something beautiful to the world. 

 

The mole, The horse, The boy, The fox - a quote  

 

In one of the book’s most famous lines: 

“Sometimes  

                        just getting up and continuing is  

                                                                                brave and magnificent.” 

    Mackesy reminds us that resilience and true strength don’t always look like protest or revolution. Sometimes it’s quiet persistence. Since he wrote this with his friends, he never expected it to become a book, but every line they wrote had a profound impact on those around him, so much so that the Canadian military requested the lines he came up with to be used to support soldiers suffering from various forms of trauma and pain. 

    The public reception of Mackesy’s work reflects the hunger for cultural care. His book became a global phenomenon, not because it had a great story of a hero or had jaw-dropping masterpieces of artworks, but because it offered something nourishing for the soul. Readers of all ages found comfort in its pages of wisdom. A reminder that they mattered, that kindness was still possible, and that they were not alone in the world, or at least they don't have to be.  

    Fujimura’s reflection and Mackesy’s book show us that creativity is not passive and neutral. It’s a choice. A choice to create rather than consume, to care rather than cast aside... Whether through words, sketches, or passing advice, the artist has the power to heal a culture that’s forgotten how to care.