Meet the author

Charlie Mackesy.

Writer & illustrator · United Kingdom · b. 1962

Charlie Mackesy: British artist behind The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse — the runaway-bestseller pen-and-ink gift book (with Oscar-winning Apple TV+ adaptation) about kindness, friendship and asking for help.

Charlie Mackesy is a British artist born in 1962, best known for The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (2019), the runaway-bestseller illustrated book of pen-and-ink drawings and aphorisms that crossed from adult gift book into children's reading via its accessible hand-lettered style and gentle emotional themes (friendship, kindness, vulnerability, asking for help). The book has sold millions of copies, been adapted into an Oscar-winning short film by Apple TV+, and become one of the most genuinely cross-generational gift books in recent publishing. Mackesy is also a sculptor and painter. A reliable contemporary author-illustrator for cross-generational reading at all ages.