Jungle Books, The by Rudyard Kipling; 1895/2004. Softcover (Barnes & Noble Classics) (CO)

Action, adventure, and excitement spill from the pages of Rudyard Kipling’s best-loved collections of stories, The Jungle Books.

Set in magical, mysterious India, these tales of people and animals living together--though not always harmoniously--in the world of nature have appealed equally to children and adults since their first appearance more than a century ago. Most focus on Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves.

As Baloo the sleepy brown bear, Bagheera the cunning black panther, Kaa the python, and his other animal friends teach their beloved “man-cub” the ways of the jungle, Mowgli gains the strength and wisdom he needs for his frightful fight with Shere Khan, the tiger who robbed him of his human family.

But there are also the tales of Rikki-tikki-tavi the mongoose and his “great war” against the vicious cobras Nag and Nagaina; of Toomai, who watches the elephants dance; and of Kotick the white seal, who swims in the Bering Sea.

This edition includes both the original Jungle Book (1894) and The Second Jungle Book (1895), written in response to the original’s enormous success.