The Jungle Book: A Novelization

by Rudyard Kipling and Stephen Sommers

P. Craig Russell is well on his way to being the premiere emissary of classic literary gems to the world of comics. His Arabian Nights collaboration with Neil Gaiman in The Sandman #50, comics... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061062871
• ISBN13: 9780061062872
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 10 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.1" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

What magic lies between the covers of this book!

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading these wonderful stories again, and it was a bonus having all of Rudyard Kipling's stories together in one volume. This book has all the Mowgli stories, plus other favourites like "Riki-Tiki-Tav", "Toomai of the Elephants", and many more. Reading these again affirmed my belief of Kipling's great skill as a storyteller. These stories had appeal for me when I was younger, but they have a different appeal for me now. Kipling's descriptions and characterizations are wonderful, and they put the reader right there in the jungle with Mowgli and Bagheera, and all Mowgli's other friends. We who love to read should not forget to read these wonderful stories once in awhile. Modern short story authors still have to go some to even begin to match these classics by a great author.

WELL BEYOND DISNEY

The Jungle BookWhen we say "The Jungle Book" most of us invariably think of Disney's films, both animated and live action, that have become the norm for Rudyard Kipling's immortal children's stories. While the Disney interpretation is fun and enchanting, it makes a dramatic departure from the actual stories and takes considerable creative license in telling just a part of the Kipling stories. Even what we get from Disney falls considerably short of the applicable parts of Kipling's original that Disney used. What? Kaa, the snake, as Mowgli's friend and powerful ally? What? A deeper story of Mowgli's experience as a wolf and his relationships with Mother wolf and Father wolf? Oh yes, much, much more.Kipling's original masterpiece also includes several other wonderful chapters about the continuing adventures of Mowgli and also adds the marvelous tale of "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," the heroic mongoose whose battles with wicked cobras in an Indian garden easily matches Mowgli's showdowns with Shere Khan.The book also includes the tale of "The White Seal." This short chapter of "The Jungle Book(s)" provides a wonderful commentary, in the form of animal parable, on human society, competition, male ego and human pride. Our hero, Kotick, the white seal, through his fearless explorations and his willingness to fight for a dream, changes the minds of his parents, his peers and his society for the better. The invitation to each of us is very clear to find and free the white seal that exists in all of us.Don't get balled up in the notion that "The Jungle Book" is just for kids. A look beneath Kipling's wonderful prose reveals, like most great children's classics, that the author is using the unintimidating forum of children's literature to speak to kids of all ages with the hope that somehow we'll all finally get it.Buy the book, read it, read it to the kids you know and learn the lesson.Douglas McAllister

A wonderful coming of age story (contains a minor spoiler).

The Jungle Books (parts 1 and 2) are wonderful novels that focus primarily on the exploits, adventures, and maturation of an orphaned boy named Mowgli. Mowgli is raised in the jungle by the animals and is educated in the laws and ways of the various jungle dwellers. Loyalty, trust, honor, honesty, and courage are but a few of the values championed in these books. The Jungle Books also remind us that childhood doesn't last forever, and eventually we all must leave it behind to assume greater responsibility in the world. As Kaa the Python said in the book "Having cast the skin, we may not creep into it afresh." These novels are pure magic.

Learn the Jungle Law, it's still in effect

The story of Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves in the jungles of 19th century India, charmed me when I was young no less than it does today. Kipling wrote this to celebrate his love of India and it's wild animals as well as to show again some of his frequent themes of honor, loyalty, and perserverance. While his writing may seem 'dated' to some, to others the truths he includes rise above politics and 'current correctness'. Baloo the Bear, Shere Khan the Tiger, Bagheera the Panther, Kaa the Python were all childhood friends of mine, and reading these Jungle Book stories to your own children today will result in their exposure to such old fashioned concepts as sticking by your friends in adversity, helping your family, relying on yourself. Good lessons then, good lessons now. Mowgli learns the value of 'good manners' early on, learns that 'all play and no work' leads to unexpected troubles, learns that thoughtless actions can have devasting consequences. By showing Mowgli in an often dangerous 'all animal' world, we see reflections of modern human problems presented in a more subtle light. Kipling leads children down the jungle path into adventures beyond their day to day imagining and along the way, he weaves subtle points in and out of the stories, he shows the value of 'doing for yourself', of 'learning who to trust'. All of this in a tale of childhood adventure that's never been equaled. The book is over 100 years old now, and there are terms & concepts from the age of Empire that aren't 'correct' today. Parents can edit as needed as they read bedtime stories, but I've found that children learn early on that the world changes, and that some ideas that were popular long ago did not prove to be correct. Explaining this, too, is a part of parenting. Some of our current popular ideas may not stand the test of time, but I suspect that 100 years from now parents will still read the Jungle Book to their children. And the children will still be charmed, thrilled and instructed in valuable life-lessons.