The Jungle Book

Lost in the Seeonee hills as an infant and taken in by a wolf pack, the man-cub Mowgli grows up under the teaching of Baloo the bear and the protection of Bagheera the black panther, learning the Law of the Jungle while the lame tiger Shere Khan waits for his chance. Across three linked stories — and an encounter with the lawless monkey-people and the great python Kaa — Mowgli comes of age as a child who belongs fully to neither the jungle nor the world of men.

Around the Mowgli tales stand some of the most famous animal stories ever written: “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,” the mongoose who defends a household from cobras; “Toomai of the Elephants,” who sees the secret dance of the wild herds; “The White Seal,” searching the northern seas for a refuge from the hunters; and “Her Majesty's Servants,” a night's talk among the army's working beasts.

Written while Kipling lived in Vermont and remembering the India of his childhood, The Jungle Book (1894) revived the ancient form of the beast-fable in prose of extraordinary rhythm and economy, each story sealed with a song in the voice of its creatures. It is one of the best-loved children's books in the language — and, beneath its wonder, a thoughtful book about belonging, law, and the costs of growing up.

This edition presents the complete public-domain text in clean, readable typesetting prepared for the modern e-reader, with an editor's foreword on the book's making and lasting power, a biographical note on Rudyard Kipling, a guide to further reading, and questions for reflection.