By Rudyard Kipling
Run with them. Or fear them–
Bagheera the Panther: A silken shadow of boldness and cunning.
Kaa the Python: A thirty foot battering ram driven by a cool, hungry mind.
Baloo the Bear: who keeps the lore and the Law, and teaches the Secret Words.
Rikki the Mongoose: The young protector who sings as he slays.
Akela and Raksha the Wolves: Demon warriors of the Free People.
Shere Khan the Tiger: The dreaded enemy of all.
And Mowgli the Man-cub: The orphan baby raised by the wolves, taught by Baloo, trained by Bagheera and Kaa. The sorcerer who knows the ways of the jungle and speaks the language of the wild…
I’ve never read The Jungle Book until now, despite being a fan of the Disney movie as a kid.
This version of The Jungle Book had a total of seven stories:
Mowgli’s Brothers
Kaa’s Hunting
Tiger! Tiger!
The White Seal
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
Toomai of the Elephants
Her Majesty’s Servants
The stories were also interspersed with songs and poems.
As I read this book, I started to remember more of The Jungle Book movie that I’d forgotten… Now I want to watch it again.
Before I read the story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, I read an article by someone whose cat was called Rikki-Tikki-Tabby, so I appreciated learning that reference. This section also reminded me on the TV show, The Wild Thornberries, because there’s an episode where Eliza meets a crazy mongoose that fights cobras.
I thought Toomai of the Elephants was a great one. The elephant’s dance was so beautifully written. It reminded me of a ballet I once saw. Not a very well known one. But in the ballet, one of the dancers danced a feverish dance by night. Or something like that.
I liked all of the stories in The Jungle Book except I didn’t care for the last one, which was boring in comparison to the others.
