The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

Above is a page from the book I recently bought, on a whim, because it sounded so good. It is every bit as wonderful as I hoped. This is a book for anyone of any age, child to adult, who loves to dream, to hope and to grow.
The title is "The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse", words and drawings by Charlie Mackesy.
Below is the cover.

In a move against all the darkness in the world these days, I treated myself to the hardcover edition and it is a book I will read or just dip into, again and again. Maybe I have intrigued you to get a copy too.

Clementine Churchill, clever, opinionated and interesting in her own right

I am captivated by the strength, beauty, courage and intelligence of Clementine Churchill, and recommend the biography "Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill" by Sonia Purnell.

Clementine pushed herself to the max, periodically to the point of physical and mental exhaustion, and created a strong role for herself, supporting Winston whenever he needed, and he was always in need of her emotional support, and her campaign and political advice. They had a long successful marriage and each of them battled exhaustion, depression and ill health, continuing on in order to serve the people of Great Britain. Clementine was brave during the Blitz, continually visiting bomb shelters, factories and hospitals, cheering people on, and they cheered for her in return. 

She was the first P.M.’s wife to be so influential in politics, wooing politicians and the public to support Winston and his efforts to stay the course and win WWII, and to convince Roosevelt to join the war. When European country after country were toppled by the Nazis, England was barely and bravely holding on. Clementine Churchill used diplomacy and charm to woo world leaders including Roosevelt’s personal trusted envoy. Clementine’s daughter Sarah compared her to a “chandelier” and daughter Mary said “she did give forth great life and sparkle.” Purnell writes she was “an alluring hostess” and that a visitor recalled “an almost physical shock that Winston had such a life-force of a wife, someone so clever, opinionated and interesting in her own right.” She outlived three of her five children, which is heart breaking to endure.
The Kindle book has great photos at the end, including my favorite, which shows her in profile reading a book, looking every inch the alluring beauty.

Another photo shows her and Winston in 1921 on a camel trek to the pyramids in Cairo, with T.E. Lawrence and Gertrude Bell, and another shows her on horseback on a wild boar hunt in France, Purnell explaining that she was fearless on horseback. I knew nothing of  Clementine (pronounced Clemen-teen) before reading this book and must learn more about her, so ordered Mary Churchill Soames' book about her mother and the new Erik Larson book "The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Blitz".
Bravo to Clementine, a trail blazer for strong and honorable women.