Contrary to the Disney movie, The Jungle Book was a collection of stories, only some of which centered around the man-child Mowgli. Rudyard Kipling was born in India and returned there much later in life returned. His time there inspired The Jungle Book (1894).
The tales in the collections have anthropomorphic animals who give a moral lesson within each story. They lay down rules for the safety of individuals, families and communities. They could be interpreted as allegories of the politics and society of the time.
The most well-known character is Mowgli, a young boy who is raised by wolves, befriends a bear and a panther and fights a tiger and a snake. There is also the heroic mongoose Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.
The Boy Scout movement is influenced by The Jungle Book, the morale and fitness of working-class youths in the cities is based on the Memory Game from Kim.
The Jungle Book was followed by the Second Jungle Book and The Third Jungle Book.
The Jungle Book is the third book in Children’s Classics month.
The Jungle Book can be found in your local library, the website for the Bergen County Cooperative Library System can be found here or at your local Barnes and Noble in Hackensack.
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