The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book is a compilation of seven animal stories by Rudyard Kipling, three of which feature the feral child character Mowgli who is raised in the jungle by wolves and tutored by a bear and a panther. All of the stories were published in magazines in 1893-4 and the book appeared later in 1894. Eight further stories, including another five about Mowgli, were collected as The Second Jungle Book in 1895. Almost all of the stories were written at Kipling's home in Vermont.

The book has remained popular with adults and children alike and has been reprinted in dozens of editions over the years. The adventures of Mowgli have been filmed several times; the most famous version is Disney's 1967 animated musical adaptation The Jungle Book, although it is the least faithful to the original story. "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi", the story of a heroic mongoose, has been adapted as a half-hour TV cartoon, while "Toomai of the Elephants" (the only Jungle Book story in which the animals do not talk) was filmed by Alexander Korda as Elephant Boy. There was also a 1960s TV version under the latter title.