Rudyard Kipling 
The Jungle Book (Illustrated) 
Including ‘The Second Jungle Book’

Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Jungle Book (Illustrated)’ weaves a vibrant tapestry of fables set within the verdant Indian jungle, its prose resonating with an innate understanding of the human and animal psyche alike. The stories are underpinned by anthropomorphic characters, rendering profound moral lessons through their episodic adventures. Kipling infuses a rich literary style, employing ‘The Law of the Jungle’ verses to articulate the intricate rules that govern individual and community welfare. The narrative of Mowgli, an abandoned ‘man cub, ‘ is iconic in its exploration of identity and belonging, while other tales such as ‘Rikki-Tikki-Tavi’ and ‘Toomai of the Elephants’ reinforce Kipling’s adeptness at storytelling. The illustrated edition brings these tales to life, punctuating them with visual splendor that complements Kipling’s vivid storytelling.

Rudyard Kipling himself was indoctrinated into the mystique of the Indian continent from a tender age, with his works rooted deeply in the experiences of British colonial India. His robust narrative skills have been admired and critiqued as emblems of the short story genre’s potential, showcasing a ‘luminous narrative gift’ recognized with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. ‘The Jungle Book, ‘ with its fusion of heartfelt tales and poetic interludes, showcases Kipling’s zenith in both children’s literature and the wider literary canon.

‘The Jungle Book’ is a seminal work that transcends the age of its readers, offering a gateway into a world where the primal laws of nature are enunciated with elegance and profundity. This illustrated edition invites readers of all ages to traverse the jungles of India through Kipling’s vivid imagination, serving as both a picturesque introduction to classic literature and an enduring compendium of timeless wisdom. Scholars and casual readers alike will find delight and education in Kipling’s masterful depiction of the wild, woven into the fabric of human ethos and storytelling tradition.

About the author

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), born in British India, emerged as a literary beacon of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Celebrated for his tales and poems depicting British colonial life, Kipling was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907. He remains best known for ‘The Jungle Book’ (1894), an enduring classic of children’s literature replete with anthropomorphized animals and parables of moral and ethical development. This illustrated masterpiece has captivated audiences through its vivacious characters, especially the man-cub Mowgli, and its rich melding of adventure and fable. Kipling’s literary style is often characterized by his use of dialects, narrative inventiveness, and deep understanding of human nature, which he expresses through a tapestry of symbolic animal stories against the backdrop of the Indian jungle. While The Jungle Book remains a celebrated piece of Kipling’s oeuvre, it is but one facet of his broader literary contributions, which encompass a multitude of short stories, novels, and poems. Kipling’s output reflects both his lush imagination and his engagement with the complexities of the Empire, an assemblage which has imbued his work with intricate layers of meaning that continue to invite scholarly analysis and debate among modern readers.