British artist, illustrator and author Charlie Mackesy began his career as a cartoonist, before becoming a book illustrator for Oxford University Press. His award-winning work has been featured in books, galleries, school classrooms, hospital wards, prisons and public spaces around the world.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse was published in October 2019 and has now reached over 10 million readers around the world. It holds the record for the most consecutive weeks in the Sunday Times Non-Fiction Chart across all formats, as well as being the longest running Non-Fiction number one of all time. A number one New York Times bestseller, it is has also remained on the NYT list since publication.

Charlie's beloved book is the first ever book to be awarded both the Waterstones Book of the Year and Barnes and Noble Book of the Year, and has been translated into over 50 languages. In 2023, Charlie co-wrote and directed the short animated film adaption, which won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film, the Academy Award for Best Animated Short film and five Annie Awards including Best Special Production.

Charlie worked with Richard Curtis on the set of ‘Love Actually’ to create a set of drawings for Comic Relief, and with Nelson Mandela on a lithograph project, The Unity Series. His bronzes can be found in public spaces in London, including Highgate Cemetery and the Brompton Road.

Away from art, Charlie co-runs Mama Buci, a honey social enterprise in Zambia that helps families of low and no income become beekeepers. He lives between Brixton and Suffolk.

Jackie Morris has illustrated several books for Barefoot Books, including The Greatest Gift and The Barefoot Book of Classic Poems. She lives and works in Pembrokeshire, Wales.