November 4, 2025 • 6 mins
Charlie Mackesy is one of the world's most adored authors and illustrators. Now, the long-awaited follow-up of the four friends is here, encouraging us to remember that connection, courage, and self-compassion can light the way.
For more, Charlie Mackesy joins.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Well.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Charlie Max is one of the world's most adored authors
and illustrators. His first title, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox,
and the Horse, became the best selling adult non fiction
book of all time. Oprah Winfrey members of the Royal
family are among his fans, and his animated short film
version earned him an Oscar.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Now, the long awaited follow up of The Four Friends
is here, encouraging us to remember that connection, courage, and
self compassion can light the way, and Charlie joined us
now out of Boston.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Lovely to see you, Thanks Larry. How are you good?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Good?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
When did this love of drawing move from a hobby
to a career for you?
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Gosh, I think probably it was never meant to be
a career.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
It was kind of an accident.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
I just thought I'd do it for a summer after school,
and you know, I just kind of like Forrest Gump,
I just never stopped.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
And I'm still doing it, you know, you know how
it is?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Yeah, the first book an immediate global hit. Is it funny?
It feels to me like it's been around forever, but
it was only twenty nineteen. Did you expect at the
time for it to connect with so many people. You
think maybe there was something about the timing.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
You know, I didn't know what to expect.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
I was surprised when my publisher said they were going
to print ten thousand. I remember thinking that's way too many.
My mum might buy it and my but you know,
you know, I don't know what to expect. And I
made the book really just thinking of people I knew,
and people I knew who were struggling, and people on Instagram.
(01:35):
I never thought i'd make a book. And I'm still
in shock, you know. I mean, I'm live TV in Australia.
I never thought i'd be doing that.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
You've really made the big time now.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
You made it like that. It is a shock. I'm
still a shocked to me.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
I'm in a hotel room in Boston, slightly jetlagged, yeah,
and signing books here. And how does this happen?
Speaker 3 (01:59):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
It's fabulous. It's ready to find a book that appeals
to all ages and of course spands generations. Was that
always the intention during the creative process?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
You did it?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
You said you just sort of did it for family
and friends, but there must have been a wider scope
for you as well.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
I did it with everybody in mind. The drawings were
like from my mum and friends and friends children, and
I think I always tried to make the drawings so
they could fit with whoever saw them, regardless of you know,
who they were or they were.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
So yeah, and congratulations because you are both the author
and the illustrator, which which isn't always common, you know,
it's more often than necessarily illustrator. But wow, what a talent.
So let's talk about the brand new book because it
revisits some of those beautiful characters. Already a number one
best seller. What can you tell us about always Remember?
And we've noticed there the inclusion of the storm.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Yeah, it's a book I made that. It's like when
the first book came out, I didn't really stop making
the drawings. So it goes all the way back, some
of the drawings to the pandemic. You know, I was
putting them on Instagram, and hospitals are using them and
schools and stuff. So it's all of those drawings and
obviously since but I just kind of felt I would
(03:11):
know when the I should make a book. And my
studio is so full of drawings, now, thousands of them.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
I thought Okay, stop there. Do you have a booked?
Speaker 4 (03:21):
And I kind of felt there was one, and so
that's what this is. And it's really, you know, it's
it's the same characters a little bit further down the
line with new things going on, and the boy has
to kind of put into practice what he's learned from
his friends.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Okay, sorry, Queen Camilla is a big fan of your
work as his Princess Catherine and Oprah and now the
morning show in Australia.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
We've made it.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
We've made it.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
It's a lot we've made, have they.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
It is wonderful. I'm always I'm always moving whoever likes.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
The book, I'm moved by them, you know.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
Like you know, I met someone the other day who
was in his nineties in the street and he looked
at me and held my arm and said, you the
guy that did the mole And I went, are you
the mole man? I said, well yeah, And he said,
you know, he said, make another as in a book,
and I said, I think I think we've nearly done it.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
This is a few months ago.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
So whether it's you know, Royalty or whether it's someone
you know, everybody is to me means a great deal.
I think for me, you know, you know the thing
Larry is is I think I made this second book
largely because not because of any pressure or expedition, because
the number of emails I've had and people I bump
(04:41):
into who tell me stories about what the book, how
it's helped them in some way, and they always say,
you know, you know, you know you're going to do
another and I haven't known, but it's largely because people
have asked me, and I thought, well, maybe you know
that's it for me.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
It's all about people.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
You know you mentioned the I mean, yoursk is fine,
but it's not why you do things, and sales figures
are not the reason why you do things. It's just
because you want to make something that you feel has
meaning to someone somewhere in the world.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
And that's it, honestly.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And Charlie, I think the inclusion of the ink writing
was that your idea was that the publisher's idea, because
I think that's such an important part of the book
that the ink.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Thanks got.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
I know that was me all a long way back
before the publishers are interested. I was doing the same.
So I like the movement of ink words with the drawings.
I like how they work together and find of schools
over the years have sent me their versions of the
book and they made their own books, and all the
kids have done it the same.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
They use ink and yeah, piles of these.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Books from kids, and they've written their own characters so
and they wouldn't type.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
They've hand drawn them as well, which I really love.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
So Yeah, it's such a powerful part of the beauty
of the book and the message that it sends as well. Charlie, congratulations.
We are so happy that you have done a second book.
It's puil for.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And we're really happy that you like Oprah and that
you came on the Morning show as well as we've
ran out of money on a certain satellite.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
I didn't know if he was so moved by my
thoughts that he was just like.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
He always gone out. He's going to do Good Morning
Auckland and say, I can't believe I'm on Good Morning Auckland. Well,
what Charlie. Charlie's new book, Always Remember the Boy, The
Mile of the Fox, The Horse and the Storm is
out now.
Well.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Charlie Max is one of the world's most adored authors
and illustrators. His first title, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox,
and the Horse, became the best selling adult non fiction
book of all time. Oprah Winfrey members of the Royal
family are among his fans, and his animated short film
version earned him an Oscar.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Now, the long awaited follow up of The Four Friends
is here, encouraging us to remember that connection, courage, and
self compassion can light the way, and Charlie joined us
now out of Boston.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Lovely to see you, Thanks Larry. How are you good?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Good?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
When did this love of drawing move from a hobby
to a career for you?
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Gosh, I think probably it was never meant to be
a career.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
It was kind of an accident.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
I just thought I'd do it for a summer after school,
and you know, I just kind of like Forrest Gump,
I just never stopped.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
And I'm still doing it, you know, you know how
it is?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Yeah, the first book an immediate global hit. Is it funny?
It feels to me like it's been around forever, but
it was only twenty nineteen. Did you expect at the
time for it to connect with so many people. You
think maybe there was something about the timing.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
You know, I didn't know what to expect.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
I was surprised when my publisher said they were going
to print ten thousand. I remember thinking that's way too many.
My mum might buy it and my but you know,
you know, I don't know what to expect. And I
made the book really just thinking of people I knew,
and people I knew who were struggling, and people on Instagram.
(01:35):
I never thought i'd make a book. And I'm still
in shock, you know. I mean, I'm live TV in Australia.
I never thought i'd be doing that.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
You've really made the big time now.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
You made it like that. It is a shock. I'm
still a shocked to me.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
I'm in a hotel room in Boston, slightly jetlagged, yeah,
and signing books here. And how does this happen?
Speaker 3 (01:59):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
It's fabulous. It's ready to find a book that appeals
to all ages and of course spands generations. Was that
always the intention during the creative process?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
You did it?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
You said you just sort of did it for family
and friends, but there must have been a wider scope
for you as well.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
I did it with everybody in mind. The drawings were
like from my mum and friends and friends children, and
I think I always tried to make the drawings so
they could fit with whoever saw them, regardless of you know,
who they were or they were.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
So yeah, and congratulations because you are both the author
and the illustrator, which which isn't always common, you know,
it's more often than necessarily illustrator. But wow, what a talent.
So let's talk about the brand new book because it
revisits some of those beautiful characters. Already a number one
best seller. What can you tell us about always Remember?
And we've noticed there the inclusion of the storm.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Yeah, it's a book I made that. It's like when
the first book came out, I didn't really stop making
the drawings. So it goes all the way back, some
of the drawings to the pandemic. You know, I was
putting them on Instagram, and hospitals are using them and
schools and stuff. So it's all of those drawings and
obviously since but I just kind of felt I would
(03:11):
know when the I should make a book. And my
studio is so full of drawings, now, thousands of them.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
I thought Okay, stop there. Do you have a booked?
Speaker 4 (03:21):
And I kind of felt there was one, and so
that's what this is. And it's really, you know, it's
it's the same characters a little bit further down the
line with new things going on, and the boy has
to kind of put into practice what he's learned from
his friends.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Okay, sorry, Queen Camilla is a big fan of your
work as his Princess Catherine and Oprah and now the
morning show in Australia.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
We've made it.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
We've made it.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
It's a lot we've made, have they.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
It is wonderful. I'm always I'm always moving whoever likes.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
The book, I'm moved by them, you know.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
Like you know, I met someone the other day who
was in his nineties in the street and he looked
at me and held my arm and said, you the
guy that did the mole And I went, are you
the mole man? I said, well yeah, And he said,
you know, he said, make another as in a book,
and I said, I think I think we've nearly done it.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
This is a few months ago.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
So whether it's you know, Royalty or whether it's someone
you know, everybody is to me means a great deal.
I think for me, you know, you know the thing
Larry is is I think I made this second book
largely because not because of any pressure or expedition, because
the number of emails I've had and people I bump
(04:41):
into who tell me stories about what the book, how
it's helped them in some way, and they always say,
you know, you know, you know you're going to do
another and I haven't known, but it's largely because people
have asked me, and I thought, well, maybe you know
that's it for me.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
It's all about people.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
You know you mentioned the I mean, yoursk is fine,
but it's not why you do things, and sales figures
are not the reason why you do things. It's just
because you want to make something that you feel has
meaning to someone somewhere in the world.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
And that's it, honestly.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And Charlie, I think the inclusion of the ink writing
was that your idea was that the publisher's idea, because
I think that's such an important part of the book
that the ink.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Thanks got.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
I know that was me all a long way back
before the publishers are interested. I was doing the same.
So I like the movement of ink words with the drawings.
I like how they work together and find of schools
over the years have sent me their versions of the
book and they made their own books, and all the
kids have done it the same.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
They use ink and yeah, piles of these.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Books from kids, and they've written their own characters so
and they wouldn't type.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
They've hand drawn them as well, which I really love.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
So Yeah, it's such a powerful part of the beauty
of the book and the message that it sends as well. Charlie, congratulations.
We are so happy that you have done a second book.
It's puil for.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And we're really happy that you like Oprah and that
you came on the Morning show as well as we've
ran out of money on a certain satellite.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
I didn't know if he was so moved by my
thoughts that he was just like.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
He always gone out. He's going to do Good Morning
Auckland and say, I can't believe I'm on Good Morning Auckland. Well,
what Charlie. Charlie's new book, Always Remember the Boy, The
Mile of the Fox, The Horse and the Storm is
out now.
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