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The Looking Glass Library series reprints many of the most beloved children's’ books. In an attempt to bring the stories into a new age, the publishers have employed current writers to craft introductions to the timeless stories. In this edition, Neil Gaiman introduces Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.
Originally published piecemeal in magazines, Kipling’s jungle stories have been published numerous times in different combinations. Looking Glass has pulled together the entirety of Kipling’s Mowgli stories, as well as “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.”
In addition to the stories, this edition includes many of the line drawings that illustrated the original publications. Those include illustrations by the author’s father, John Lockwood Kipling.
Kipling’s stories of Mowgli--the human child raised by wolves--is a classic adventure and compelling allegory. Gaiman writes about how much the stories reflected Kipling’s own experiences, unsure of his place between the jungles and humanity.
“Although Mowgli has to leave, he can never truly be happy away from his jungle, just as he can never truly be part of it,” writes Gaiman. It’s quite heady stuff for what is often marketed as a child’s tale, but the complexity never detracts from the simple enjoyment a child can take from Mowgli’s world and his adventures with Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther.
This edition of Kipling’s Mowgli stories will give children a book to return to often, no doubt to uncover many of the insights Gaiman shares, but for themselves and to their own betterment.
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The Jungle Book (Looking Glass Library)