The Jungle Book

Each volume in the Collector's Library series has a specially commissioned Afterword, brief biography of the author and a further reading list. The Afterword for this edition of is by David Stuart Davies. The Jungle Book shows Kipling's writing for children at its best. It is a collection of short stories and poems, revolving round the boy Mowgli, who was raised by a pack of wolves in India. We meet the tiger Shere Khan who attacked and drove off Mowgli's parents, Bagheera, the black panther, Baloo 'the sleepy brown bear, and the evil python, Kaa. Other stories include Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, The White Seal and Toomai of the Elephants, and the book contains the original illustrations of J Lockwood Kipling (Rudyard's father) and W H Drake.