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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
Call me ignorant, but I didn't know this was a collection of stories. So when Mowgli's story transitoned to Kotick in Russia, I was a tad disappointed. I partly blame my copy's synopsis, which didn't say anything about the rest of the stories. Aside from that, I enjoyed the animals and the lessons behind each tale.
This was a lovely read-aloud I enjoyed with my 6-year-old. We got a gorgeous illustrated version from the local library.
There were some things we discussed that seemed a bit shocking (like how often Baloo and Bagheera talked about the merits of beating Mowgli as an educational tool, for example). It actually opened up a good conversation about how physical force is not a great teacher, and how else Mowgli might learn.
In the end, it is a story set in a jungle with monkeys, panthers, bears, and wolves with a lot of action to keep my kid hooked. I also like introducing him to stories in old English with an expansive vocabulary.
Rudyard Kipling has a lot of views I am not a fan of. I read carefully thinking through whether this work would still be worth reading to my child. I decided this time it was still worth a read - but that might not be the choice you make! Read carefully, my friends.
There were some things we discussed that seemed a bit shocking (like how often Baloo and Bagheera talked about the merits of beating Mowgli as an educational tool, for example). It actually opened up a good conversation about how physical force is not a great teacher, and how else Mowgli might learn.
In the end, it is a story set in a jungle with monkeys, panthers, bears, and wolves with a lot of action to keep my kid hooked. I also like introducing him to stories in old English with an expansive vocabulary.
Rudyard Kipling has a lot of views I am not a fan of. I read carefully thinking through whether this work would still be worth reading to my child. I decided this time it was still worth a read - but that might not be the choice you make! Read carefully, my friends.
Wat heb ik een spijt van dit boek. Het komt totaal niet overeen met het beeld dat ik bij het Jungleboek had. En de helft van de hoofdstukken gingen niet eens over Mowgli dus die heb ik maar overgeslagen. En binnenkort ga ik de Disney-film maar weer kijken om mijn beeld te herstellen
Mowgli's arc and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi are by far my favorite.
adventurous
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was my first time reading this classic novel penned by Rudyard Kipling and to my surprise The Jungle Book is not one story but a collection of seven tales. Of those seven tales, Mowgli is only featured in the first three. The fourth tale doesn’t take place in the jungle at all and is an interesting tale all about a young seal from an island in the Bering sea. The last three tales in the book sadly didn’t grab my attention at all and it became an effort to read at that point. Mowgli isn’t all that this book has to offer but he does carry the weight of the action on his back, along with his friends Bagheera and Baloo of course.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Disney tricked me in thinking the jungle book was only the tale of Mowgli instead of a collection of short tales. Some I liked better than others but overall a cute short story book.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Ah, what a wonderful little book. I really wish I could have had this one when I was a kid. Nevertheless, it was still great fun reading it now. Having grown up with the Disney version it was a surprise to me that less than half of the stories in The Jungle Book (3 out of 7) are about Mowgli! :o The others are about various animals of the Jungle and they were equally great to the Mowgli ones, even though the latter are the most well known. It is also odd how Disney did the reversal of certain characters. In the book Bagheera is the more reckless one whilest Baloo is patiënt and wise. Kaa is also the dangerous and scary one (though he is actually a good guy), where Shere Khan is more of a fool if still quite powerfull being a tiger after all. Very interesting. One of the great children's classics and rightly so! I could have finished this in a day or two but I kept forcing myself to put it down in order to enjoy it longer. That should tell you something!
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced