Thanks to Kimberley for this guest review of our June Classic!
“A man-trained boy would have been badly bruised, for the fall was a good fifteen feet, but Mowgli fell as Baloo had taught him to fall, and landed on his feet”
I have been reading the Disney version of the Jungle Book to my 3yr old a lot lately and was excited to be reading the original classic this month. If all you know of The Jungle Book is the film adaptions then you may be surprised to know that the book is an anthology of short stories and songs - only a few of which relate to Mowgli, our lost little man-cub.
Also different in the movie are the characters of Bagheera, Baloo and Kaa. Baloo trains the wolf Cubs and is just as rough with Mowgli as he is with the Cubs as he teaches them the law of the jungle. Kaa too, the sneaky snake I thought always wanted to harm Mowgli, is actually an ally!
In the other short stories are the tales of Rikki Tikki Tavi - a loveable mongoose, Toomai, the elephant boy, and Kotick, the White Seal. Exploring themes like courage, loyalty, friendship and love, Kipling’s showcases these animals in an interesting and enjoyable way.
They always say the book is better than the movie and while I don’t think that’s completely true in this case (sorry, Kipling), there were definitely interesting moments from Mowgli’s stories that I enjoyed. It was intriguing, a little magical, a little nostalgic in places, and perhaps a little boring in places too. All in all, a nice little read.