Charlie Mackesy is an artist and this, his first venture into print, is a beautiful hardback picture book, already a best-seller.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Charlie Mackesy
(ebury press, 128 PP, £16.99)
Tablet bookshop price £15.29 • Tel 020 7799 4064

Charlie Mackesy is an artist and this, his first venture into print, is a beautiful hardback picture book, already a best-seller. It began as a series of Instagram posts, pen-and-ink drawings of a Christopher Robin-like boy alone in a wild landscape, and his encounters with the unnamed creatures of the title. It is aimed at all ages, and can be enjoyed on many levels.

The pictures are dashed off in black ink with great verve and each is accompanied by a brief dialogue between the characters as they philosophise about life. The universe, even when huge, dark and bleak, is depicted as ultimately benign. There is no real storyline but the pictures evoke an extraordinary sense of tenderness, which prevails throughout.

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