An Illustrated Fable for All Ages
A Review of
Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse, and the Storm
Charlie Mackesy
Hardcover: Penguin Life, 2025
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Reviewed by Douglas Brouwer
Always Remember is not quite a children’s book, though children can read it (if they can read cursive handwriting). It’s not quite a self-help book, though it offers comfort and guidance. It’s not quite philosophy either, though it grapples with profound questions. Maybe the best way to describe the book is an “illustrated fable for all ages” or a “philosophical picture book.” It exists in that rare literary category occupied by The Little Prince, The Velveteen Rabbit, and Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
Where Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull is about transcendence, striving, and breaking limitations, Charlie Mackesy’s work is about acceptance, kindness, and being enough as you are. One reaches upward, the other reaches inward and toward others.
Mackesy, both author and illustrator, has created a sequel to his well-received 2019 book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse. That foursome is back together, telling a deceptively simple story filled with wisdom. The book is not overtly religious, though it expresses spiritual longing and an undercurrent of faith.
To describe Always Remember as “comfort literature” might seem like a criticism, but it isn’t. The book resonates with the reader in difficult moments: “One day you’ll look back and realize how hard it was, and just how well you did.” “Be patient with yourself. Shouting at a flower won’t make it bloom.” “Hope is the quiet song in your heart that can sing in spite of everything.”
Mackesy is an artist, and his illustrations, while simple, are rich and compelling. My favorite is a page that appears to be torn, with musical notes emerging through the tear. “Look at the music,” said the mole. “It often comes through where things are broken.”
I need to read more books like this one.
Douglas Brouwer
Douglas Brouwer is a Presbyterian pastor and the author of several books, including his most recent,The Traveler’s Path(March 2025), a spiritual reflection on various forms of travel. He is a frequent contributor toThe Reformed Journaland other publications. More of his writing may be found at dougsblog.substack.com.
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