The Jungle Book [Hardcover]

Printed on heavy, coated stock, with wide floral borders adding further notes of luxury, these three complete tales from Kipling's classic, with attendant verses, get both sumptuous packaging and a generous helping of small, finely detailed illustrations. This treatment not only captures the action and exotic locales, but, most expressively, the power and beauty of the wolves, Bagheera, Balloo and the other animals among whom young Mowgli is raised. As always, Kipling's measured prose and poetry is a treat to read alone or, especially, aloud; here the story of Mowgli's education in the Law of the Jungle, his first try at living among humankind, his kidnapping by the Monkey People, and his triumph over the tiger Shere Khan will keep young audiences rapt. An ideal replacement for the edition of these tales illustrated by Inga Moore (1992), and other edited versions. (Fiction. 9-11) (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

I read every one of the 164 Classics Illustrated titles. They provided a foundation in world literature that led to reading the actual books, annuities for my optometrist and optician, and a career in the book trade. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Even before I could read, I remember pouring through my brothers' copies of Classics Illustrated, over and over, especially their excellent comic book adaptations of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, A Journey to the Center of the Earth, and War of the Worlds. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

My senior year in high school, I took a test on "A Tale of Two Cities," a book I had somehow failed to read. What I had read, years before, was the Classics Illustrated version--read it so often that I had the story pretty much by heart. I aced the test...... Classics Illustrated taught me the value of good stories that I otherwise would not have read at all...... children are more ruthless about what they consider entertaining. They don't love books because they think they should. They love stories that deliver, and Classics Illustrated always had the goods. Looks like it still does. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

"Brit Lit is one of my favorite classes to teach. I mean, who can resist heroes like Beowulf, King Arthur and Robin Hood, not to mention folklore rich with fairies and ghosts? Throw in famous characters like Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, and Sherlock Holmes and introduce the adventures of Lemuel Gulliver and Jim Hawkins and you've got yourself a class most teens can really sink their teeth into."
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the moment a little naked cub wanders into the lair of Father Wolf and Mother Wolf to the moment when the master of the jungle returns to his own people, Mowgli's adventures comprise a fable of human life. Along with these stories are other animal tales. This is a magnificent new edition of the best-loved story featuring over 80 beautiful illustrations by award-winning Australian illustrator Robert Ingpen. The third book in Templar's best-selling classics series illustrated by Robert Ingpen that includes "Peter Pan and Wendy" (2004) and "Treasure Island" (2005).

The tales in the original Jungle Book (and also those in The Second Jungle Book which followed in 1895, and which includes five further stories about Mowgli) are fables, using animals in an anthropomorphic manner to give moral lessons. The verses of The Law of the Jungle, for example, lay down rules for the safety of individuals, families and communities. Kipling put in them nearly everything he knew or "heard or dreamed about the Indian jungle." The best-known of them are the three stories revolving around the adventures of an abandoned 'man cub' Mowgli who is raised by wolves in the Indian jungle. The most famous of the other stories are probably "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi", the story of a heroic mongoose, and "Toomai of the Elephants", the tale of a young elephant-handler. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Jungle Book and comics.
A comic book series Petit d'homme ("Man Cub") was published in Belgium between 1996 and 2003. Written by Crisse and drawn by Marc N'Guessan and Guy Michel, it resets the stories in a post-apocalyptic world in which Mowgli's friends are humans rather than animals: Baloo is an elderly doctor, Bagheera is a fierce African woman warrior and Kaa is a former army sniper.
DC Comics used some of the characters and settings of the Jungle Book in one of its Elseworlds stories, featuring the infant Superman in place of Mowgli and taking the name K'l'l. Bagheera, Akela, and Shere Khan all make appearances, as does Kipling himself, who has the story of 'K'l'l of the Wolves' dictated to him by a British man who tells the entirety of the story in flashback. Khan remains the evil force he has been depicted as in the original story, and is slain outright by K'l'l in a head-on confrontation after Akela is maneuvered into missing his kill and Khan attempts to take over the pack. The character is later given the civilized name of 'Clark' by Lois Lane, and is captured along with his friends, and used for profit by Lex Luthor, who is also eventually slain. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Charles Dickens was born in 1812 and grew up in poverty. This experience influenced 'Oliver Twist',' the second of his fourteen major novels, which first appeared in 1837. When he died in 1870 he was buried in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey as an indication of his huge popularity as a novelist, which endures to this day. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.