Attention parents, children, teachers and, well, anyone who cares about reading – Charlie Mackesy’s multi-million bestselling The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse is set to enter the national curriculum.
If you loved the book, you are not alone. Indeed, chances are you own a copy, given its phenomenal sales. Perhaps you watched the Oscar-winning film adaptation, screened on BBC One last Christmas. And now a set of resources based on the text will be received by all schools to teach their youngest pupils.
The story goes like this. A boy, rendered in exquisite line drawings, meets a mole. They talk. The pair encounter a fox, caught in a snare. The mole frees the fox. The three meet a horse. They talk about kindness and fear and love and friendship and cake. They are together. The book ends.
Those who love Mackesy’s work say that it teaches compassion and self-acceptance. Those of us who are less than keen might say yes, the drawings are beautiful, but each page reads like the sort of greetings card you might send to a friend if you couldn’t think what to write.
But whether I like the book isn’t the point. Millions do, and apparently these resources have come about because teachers have been clamouring for them. We need to get our children reading; the UK’s statistics are appalling.
According to the National Literacy Trust, fewer than three in 10 children said that they read every day in 2023, and it’s getting worse. There has been a 26 per cent decrease in the number of children who read daily in their free time since 2005. And half a million children in the UK say they don’t own a single book.
But The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse is not a book written for children – it started life as an inspirational Instagram account for adults. And by putting it on the curriculum, we are telling our youngest and newest readers that this is what constitutes a good children’s book; one that is long, that is lacking the momentum of a decent story and devoid of jokes that kids will find funny; a book that does not understand and accept what it is to be a child.
Or, to put it another way, it’s easy to sit in a field with your animal friends and state: “One of our greatest freedoms is how we react to things.” Try saying that when you’re five and someone’s just nicked your crisps.
This is especially sad given that we live in a golden age of children’s writing. The best children’s books, written squarely for their intended audience, are those that embrace and celebrate children, in all their anarchic, hilarious, irrepressible glory.
Mackesy’s supporters, some of the most ardent I’ve encountered, have a tendency to believe that anyone who dares criticise the book is opposed to the very concept of kindness itself. It’s understandable; this is a work that has brought comfort to so many. But in the context of children’s education it’s a real worry.
So I fear for the six-year-olds who find the book’s length, lack of narrative and handwritten text off-putting. Given The Boy, The Mole…’s hallowed status, these kids may well assume, wrongly, that this is what all children’s books are like.
And I fear that the child who dares to demand more from their reading, who finds this book twee, trite or simply a bit tedious, will be deemed an intellectual and emotional failure.
For the children who respond to the text and, I suspect just as crucially, the enthusiasm of their teachers and parents, these resources may be a good thing. But for the kids who are less than keen, please, for the love of literacy, put something in their hands that was written with them in mind.
Want to read to small kids about their big feelings? Here are five brilliant alternatives to The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse
Barbara Throws A Wobbler by Nadia Shireen
As Barbara discovers, people get angry. Very angry indeed. And it’s completely normal!
Noodlehead by Giles Andreae and Lalalimola
Celebrate the joy of sharing with your mates while shouting things like “NINNY KNICKERS”.
This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
A sneaky little fish steals a blue hat, only to find that his actions have consequences…
Oh No, George by Chris Haughton
George the dog tries his best to be good. Unfortunately, his best isn’t always quite enough.
Ruby’s Worry by Tom Percival
An anxious girl with a huge problem discovers how wonderful it is to talk.