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Cover of Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm
Picture · ages 6–12

Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm

Written and illustrated by Charlie Mackesy

Book 2 of 2 in The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the HorseView the full series

Bestseller list
Adults love it tooEndlessly rereadable

A reflective follow-up that returns to Mackesy's four friends as they face an emotional and literal storm. Best for readers who loved the first book's quiet wisdom and want something equally giftable, comforting and thoughtful.

  • Best for6–12
  • FormatPicture
  • Length128 pp
  • Read aloud~26 min
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The vibe

What it’s like.

Style

  • Lyrical
  • Literary
  • Conversational

Tone

  • Gentle
  • Warm
  • Heartwarming
  • Thought provoking
  • Inspirational

Themes

On the pagefriendship, resilience, storms, wisdom, animals, kindness, comfort, hand drawn art

Experience meters

Energy1/ 5
Humour2/ 5
Scariness1/ 5
Peril1/ 5
Wonder3/ 5
Cosiness4/ 5
Emotional intensity5/ 5
Conceptual intensity5/ 5

What’s it about?

The story.

The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse are wandering through the wilds again, unsure exactly what they are searching for but certain of their love for one another. When dark clouds gather, the book turns its attention to storms: the weather outside, the difficulty inside, and the remembered truths that can help someone keep going. Like the first book, this is not a conventional narrative picture book so much as an illustrated fable made from spare conversations, handwritten lines and expressive ink-and-watercolour images. The emotional centre is resilience: remembering that hard times pass, that friendship matters, and that small comforts can become anchors. It will suit families who want a quiet, reassuring read, especially for children who respond to visual beauty, gentle wisdom and books that open up conversations about worry, courage and love.

Fit check

Right for your child?

Where it lands by age

  • 1
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7
  • 9
  • 11
  • 13
  • Best fit · 6–12
  • Read aloud · 5–12
  • Independent · 7–14

Prose load

Light

Visual support

High

Reluctant-reader friendly

Very

Read-aloud quality

Strong

Works well for

  • Reading aloud
  • Bedtime
  • Reading together
  • Reluctant readers
Moderate sensitivityWorth a preview

Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.

Bedtime suitability

4 / 5 · Bedtime-friendly

Sensitive-child

2 / 5 · Use judgement

Graphic intensity

1 / 5 · None

Best for

  • Thoughtful gift
  • Quiet reading
  • Sensitive readers
  • Comforting books
  • Beautiful art

Avoid if

  • Wants strong plot
  • Prefers fast pacing
  • Dislikes aphorisms

Particularly good for children who are…

  • Anxiety and worry
  • Low self esteem
  • Making friends
  • Nightmares or fears

In the classroom

How it works in school.

A gentle, quotable book of comfort and kindness — a strong wellbeing and PSHE text about resilience, anxiety and looking after each other.

Classroom role

  • Discussion and empathy
  • Read aloud

Good for teaching

  • Theme

A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.

Why it lands

Why they love it.

Why kids love it

The specific feeling is being told it'll be okay — the four friends walking through a storm, exchanging small things to remember when life gets hard. Not a story so much as a collection of comforting lines, drawn in a hand a child can imagine making themselves. The book to dip into when something is wobbly.

  • Animal companions
  • Friendship and belonging
  • Having a wise mentor
  • Surviving danger

Why parents love it

The follow-up to the original Boy/Mole/Fox/Horse — same hand-drawn warmth, same compass of small wisdoms. The book to gift a child going through a hard time or graduating to anything new, where you'd like something to say without quite knowing the words. Reads as a comfort object as much as a book.

  • Beautiful illustrations
  • Conversation starter
  • Great writing
  • Bedtime appropriate

In the series

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.

2 books · open the series →

About the author

Charlie Mackesy.

CM

Charlie Mackesy

Writer · United Kingdom · b. 1962

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.

More from Charlie Mackesy

If you liked this

Three ways out of this book.

Come into this from…

Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.

Cover of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

by Charlie Mackesy

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Maybe

by Kobi Yamada

Big Panda and Tiny Dragon
James Norbury
Big Panda and Tiny Dragon

by James Norbury

Where to go next…

Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.

Buy or borrow

Pick up a copy.

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  • Hive
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Last reviewed · April 2026Suggest a correctionHow we recommend

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