The Jungle Book (Puffin Classics)

This was one of my favorite stories from childhood and I must admit that it hasn’t lost its appeal. The Jungle Book is the story of the little man cub who gets separated from his family by the tiger Shere Khan. The little man cub toddles into the wolf pack straight to the strong mother wolf who is charmed by the fearlessness of the naked little creature. Mother Wolf decides they will keep the small cub, name him Mowgli after the frog, and present him to the pack. Of course Mother has to chase off Shere Khan first, which makes Mother very fearsome and the tiger look rather pitiful. Baloo the bear stands for the man cub at council and promises to teach him Jungle Law and Bagheerah the black panther bought Mowgli’s life with the price of one fine large bull. Akela, the wise old leader of the pack decided that it was good to have a man cub in their pack, for they were known to be very clever and fierce. He was sure that one day, the cub that was hunted by the tiger would be the hunter of the tiger and would bring his skin to Council Rock. The personalities of the jungle kingdom were so fun, and I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying this book. It is written in beautiful prose with a loving hand and this will likely not be the last time that I read it.

"The Jungle Book" is a collection of stories (or fables) and songs/poems by Rudyard Kipling, and was originally published in 1894. The book consists of 7 short stories, separated by seven poems. The first three stories involve Mowgli, but the other four stories are not part of that series, nor do they all take place in the same jungle or any jungle at all. What these stories do have in common is the anthropomorphizing of animals as characters in these stories. As with all fables, these stories impart a moral message to the reader. "Mowgli's Brothers" is the first story in the book and was originally published in January of 1894 in "St. Nicholas Magazine". The story is about Mowgli being adopted by the wolf family which then raises him. With Shere Khan hunting in their area of the jungle, the Father Wolf (Akela) and the mother (Raksha) find and take in a human baby. At the wolf council, Baloo speaks for the cub, and Bagheera buys his life with a fresh kill. As time passes, Shere Khan turns most of the wolves against Mowgli, and they plot to overthrow Akela as the leader. Mowgli is then sent away from the wolves, vowing to return with Shere Khan's hide. This story is followed by the "Hunting-Song of the Seeonee Pack". "Kaa's Hunting" is a short study from March-April of 1894. It takes place sometime during the period covered in "Mowgli's Brothers", though it isn't mentioned in that story. It is a story about Mowgli's abduction by monkees, a.k.a the Bandar-log. Baloo and Bagheera, rescue Mowgli with the aid of Kaa. This story is followed by the "Road Song of the Bandar-Log". "Tiger! Tiger!" was a short story published in February of 1894 in magazines before being published in this collection. This covers the confrontation between Mowgli and Shere Khan. Mowgli has been kicked out of the jungle and has been adopted by a couple who believe he is Nathoo, the child that they lost. Mowgli tries to fit in, but he alienates himself from the others because he doesn't accept their misconceptions about the jungle. Shere Khan returns and is plotting to kill Mowgli, but he is warned by one of his wolf friends (Grey Brother) whom he goes to visit regularly. Mowgli comes up with a plan to kill Shere Khan, but when successful he gets into an argument with Buldeo, the hunger. Buldeo tries to take Shere Khan's skin, but Mowgli refuses to give it to him, so Buldeo turns the entire village against him and Mowgli finds himself an outcast of both the jungle and the village. This story is followed by "Mowgli's Song". "The White Seal" is a short story published in August of 1893. The story is about Kotick, a rare white-furred seal who spends his life searching for a home where seals will not be hunted by humans. He is isolated from the other seals by his goal, but he finally discovers a place that the Sea Cows know which is free from man. This story is followed by "Lukannon". "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" is a story from November of 1893. In this story an English family save a young mongoose (Rikki Tikki) who becomes their pet. Rikki Tikki first saves the families young boy Teddy from a dust brown snakeling. Rikki Tikki takes to patrolling the house while the family sleeps, and it is during this that he is warned by Chuchundra that there are two cobras (Nag and Nagaina) that are planning to kill the family. Rikki Tikki first takes on Nag, waking the father who kills Nag. Nagaina then swears vengeance, but Rikki Tikki gets help from Darzee (a tailor bird) and locates Nagainaj's nest and then uses the eggs to distract Nagaina to save Teddy again. This story is followed by "Darzee's Chant". "Toomai of the Elephants" is a short story from the December of 1893. In this story little Toomai is told that he cannot be an elephant handler unless he sees the dance of the elephants. When the great elephant Kala Nag hears the call of the elephant from far off in the jungle, he goes to find the elephants, taking little Toomai with him. This story is followed y "Shiv and the Grasshopper". "Her Majesty's Servants" was originally published in March of 1894. This story is about the various animals used to support Her Majesty's armed forces in India. The animals discuss their roles in the army, each taking pride in the function they perform. This is followed by "Parade-Song of the Camp Animals" which closes out the book. This is a good collection of short stories, though there is a definite variability in the quality, and of course they don't all take place in the jungle. Rudyard Kipling wrote poems, short stories, and novels. Having lived in India, England, and the United States, and also spent a fair amount of time in South Africa. He drew on the rich cultural history that he enjoyed to create some wonderful tales. He remains one of the best known writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. "The Jungle Book" is one of his best known works, though most know it through films which do not accurately represent the stories within. It blends his short fiction with some of his poems, but I find it a bit too uneven to give it five-stars.

This collection is probably the single best starting place for reading Kipling, especially for younger or teen readers (though the very youngest would probably enjoy his _Just So Stories_ more). These stories are great reads, enjoyable by all ages. Fans of the movie will find a more complex work here -- not "darker," but more ambiguous; the three stories from this collection that have generally been adapted into other media, and that most readers think of when they think of "The Jungle Book", focus on outcast human infant, Mowgli, who is abandoned as an infant in the jungle and raised by wolves, and primarily tell the story of his search for a "place" within the wolf pack, the Jungle, and the human world, and his outsider status in all three realms. Perhaps because they focus almost entirely on the Indian jungle, or perhaps because they're aimed at children, these stories are also largely free of the undertone (overtone?) of imperialism that runs through much of Kipling's work for adults. It has, of course, been massively influential on later writers, from Edgar Rice Burrough's _Tarzan_ to Neil Gaiman's _The Graveyard Book_. The various morals contained within the "Mowgli" stories were also taken as a motivational book within the Scouting movement (reading this helped me understand why I had to memorize "Akela" when I was a cub scout). While only three stories in this collection focus on Mowgli, Kipling did write a second collection, "The Second Jungle Book," which is almost entirely comprised of Mowgli stories, and which I would highly recommend if you like these tales. If you want to read more of Kipling's work for adults, I'd recommend either "The Man Who Would be King" or the short story collection "Plain Tales from the Hills," both of which should be available for free online. As to formatting of this kindle edition: there are blocks of Kipling's poetry in between the stories, some of which was difficult to read as the formatting had not carried over well to this Kindle edition. Not a critical issue, but Kipling's poetry is excellent and the formatting errors were annoying.

Me la regalaron en VHS cuando era niño y desde entonces la amo, mi película favorita de Disney. Luego me compré la edición especial en dvd. No pude resistir y me compré ahora el bluray.😆 No llegó con cartoncito (ni sé como se llama) que va arriba de la caja de plástico, pero a mí no me importa eso. 10/10 😎👍

super

Ich muss wirklich sagen, ich war zunächst sehr skeptisch ob ich das Buch wirklich lesen sollte, aber da es so schön aussieht habe ich mich dann entschieden es zu kaufen. Das Dschungel-Buch ist ein zeitloser Klassiker, der nicht nur für Kinder schön ist. Die Geschichte unterscheidet sich sehr von dem alten Disney Film, den die eigentliche "Mogli-Geschichte" spielt nur eine kleine Rolle. Was diese Geschichte so einzigartig macht, ist die Unschuld die hinter den einzigen Handlungen steckt, so werden Menschen von den Tieren in Ruhe gelassen, weil diese keine Krallen haben um sich zu wehren und das wäre ja unfair. Alles in Allem hat sich der Kauf wirklich gelohnt, da das Buch sowohl zum Lesen als auch zum Ansehen sehr schön ist.

Beautiful version of this Rudyard Kipling classic. The colouring of the cover is a little different than pictured and there is less colouring in than I had expected but in all a great book.

Estou ainda usufruindo da leitura desse livro. Recomendo a sua compra.