karen's Reviews > The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
by
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286746i/28795512._SX540_.jpg)
when i first saw this title and cover, i said AWWWWW! and then, over the holiday season, so many people were praising this book in print and in person, i knew i needed to get a copy for myself. OR, to get a copy for greg because - fox - and read it before gifting it to him. because i am a monster.
for me it's a mixed bag. on the one hand, the artwork is gorgeous
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286746i/28795511._SY540_.jpg)
on the other hand, this
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286746i/28795513._SY540_.jpg)
which just, no. like capital-letter NO with all of my being.
again, i am a monster. this is known.
show me a cute animal, and i melt like an ice cap, but human children inspire nothing outta me but low-level panic, gracelessly suppressed. i'm just...not interested, which makes me feel guilty as a human person and plays its part in my nightly insomniac personal reckoning/shame spiral. also keeping me from sleep is my cynical inability to be charmed by the well-intentioned but facile insights this book offers up to readers. because people are getting genuine comfort from this book and i feel like a dick for rolling my eyes and imagining these words carved on a block of wood and sold for like twenty dollars.
does this book have messages this girl needs to hear? hell yes.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286747i/28795514._SX540_.jpg)
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286782i/28795516.jpg)
but then this happens
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286747i/28795515.jpg)
and it's like that olde aesop's fable about the signal and the noise.
i am a monster. my dreams aren't coming true, my ship's not coming in, 'at least i have my health' doesn't apply, i'm growing old and bitter, and platitudes really only work for people with vanilla froyo problems.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286746i/28795510._SX540_.jpg)
if i treat it like a book written in a foreign language, it's great - i can enjoy the pictures, and i can recognize the individual words even though the messages mean nothing to me.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286746i/28795508._SY540_.jpg)
i am a monster. like the mole, i will eat all your cake.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286746i/28795507._SY540_.jpg)
also, i miss calvin and hobbes.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286746i/28795509._SX540_.jpg)
THE END
come to my blog!
by
![45618](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1596291582p2/45618.jpg)
karen's review
bookshelves: les-animaux, kiddiwinx, books-everyone-loves-but-me, hello-foxen
Jan 01, 2020
bookshelves: les-animaux, kiddiwinx, books-everyone-loves-but-me, hello-foxen
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286746i/28795512._SX540_.jpg)
when i first saw this title and cover, i said AWWWWW! and then, over the holiday season, so many people were praising this book in print and in person, i knew i needed to get a copy for myself. OR, to get a copy for greg because - fox - and read it before gifting it to him. because i am a monster.
for me it's a mixed bag. on the one hand, the artwork is gorgeous
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286746i/28795511._SY540_.jpg)
on the other hand, this
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286746i/28795513._SY540_.jpg)
which just, no. like capital-letter NO with all of my being.
again, i am a monster. this is known.
show me a cute animal, and i melt like an ice cap, but human children inspire nothing outta me but low-level panic, gracelessly suppressed. i'm just...not interested, which makes me feel guilty as a human person and plays its part in my nightly insomniac personal reckoning/shame spiral. also keeping me from sleep is my cynical inability to be charmed by the well-intentioned but facile insights this book offers up to readers. because people are getting genuine comfort from this book and i feel like a dick for rolling my eyes and imagining these words carved on a block of wood and sold for like twenty dollars.
does this book have messages this girl needs to hear? hell yes.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286747i/28795514._SX540_.jpg)
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286782i/28795516.jpg)
but then this happens
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286747i/28795515.jpg)
and it's like that olde aesop's fable about the signal and the noise.
i am a monster. my dreams aren't coming true, my ship's not coming in, 'at least i have my health' doesn't apply, i'm growing old and bitter, and platitudes really only work for people with vanilla froyo problems.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286746i/28795510._SX540_.jpg)
if i treat it like a book written in a foreign language, it's great - i can enjoy the pictures, and i can recognize the individual words even though the messages mean nothing to me.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286746i/28795508._SY540_.jpg)
i am a monster. like the mole, i will eat all your cake.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286746i/28795507._SY540_.jpg)
also, i miss calvin and hobbes.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1579286746i/28795509._SX540_.jpg)
THE END
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1528725630i/25720315.png)
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Reading Progress
September 26, 2019
– Shelved
Started Reading
December 28, 2019
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 67 (67 new)
![Erica](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1558548351p1/2644090.jpg)
That is an excellent question.
Typically, I've always felt more Louise but I sometimes have Thelma days.
Which one are you gonna be?
![karen](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1596291582p1/45618.jpg)
![Erica](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1558548351p1/2644090.jpg)
![Drakeryn](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1556848017p1/42539760.jpg)
![AquaMoon](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1686591636p1/1915434.jpg)
Imma hard pass on this one.
![Rossdavidh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1631399979p1/25371127.jpg)
I just got kicked out of the car, didn't I? : )
![AquaMoon](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1686591636p1/1915434.jpg)
![BeckyisBookish](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1636034951p1/14852489.jpg)
![karen](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1596291582p1/45618.jpg)
i understand about half of those sentences - how many families am i meant to have and why are we all at the bottom of the grand canyon? but the gist is you liked this book, i didn't, and i'm...doomed? i mean, i guess. i'm just not a fan of easy sentimentality, and i'm not gonna be made to feel bad about my own tastes because that's just silly. i'm glad you liked this book. lots of folks did.
![karen](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1596291582p1/45618.jpg)
i don't think it is strictly intended for kids, though. it doesn't list as children's, it's not priced for children's - it's a book for aaaaaalllllll.
![Rossdavidh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1631399979p1/25371127.jpg)
Well, some of us hold on to a child's level of emotional self-regulation longer than others. : )
![Rossdavidh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1631399979p1/25371127.jpg)
I do a ctrl-F on "suicide" on this page and the only references I see to it are your comment?
![karen](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1596291582p1/45618.jpg)
i think this book is beautifully drawn and impressive as an object, but some of the sentimentality made me wince. younger readers, and people wired differently than me have found value in its words - it's a runaway bestseller and that's great, but the way my own life experiences have shaped my worldview, some of it reads a little treacly. still, every book their reader &etc.
![karen](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1596291582p1/45618.jpg)
hahah i was typing my overlong comment while you were writing this and now i fear i will break your control f function with that word.
![Granny](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1314247888p1/6060275.jpg)
We all see things from our own perspective and life experiences. I'm sorry about your mother. That would certainly be devastating. I wish you well.
![Yannick](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1593611266p1/94132907.jpg)
![Donna Walczak](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1621767070p1/29157239.jpg)
I like platitudes. I don't know if those are considered fro-yo problems, but I like striving for optimism and being grateful even for the little things like running waters and warm beds and loved ones.
I've not read the book, but I always enjoy reading your reviews. Even the ones that are bitter and sharp. Hope you enjoy your next book more.
![Deb](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
![karen](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1596291582p1/45618.jpg)
![Shane](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1608633094p1/15966635.jpg)
![Lily Pearl](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1576956813p1/107117004.jpg)
![seak](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1632185540p1/1805180.jpg)
![Chris](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
![karen](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1596291582p1/45618.jpg)
![AquaMoon](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1686591636p1/1915434.jpg)
(Forgive my ignorant question. I have no kids of my own and have no plans to do so in the near or distant or alternate futures)
![AquaMoon](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1686591636p1/1915434.jpg)
"
Isn't it ironic? Don't you think?
![AquaMoon](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1686591636p1/1915434.jpg)
I heard somewhere they were going to phase it out. Maybe just a rumor...
![Mersh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1631508657p1/135948307.jpg)
I didn't even rate or review this one because it made me roll my eyes so hard. It's way too much. I didn't even appreciate the illustrations.
Dear fellow monster: Scootch over, we need to sit together.