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katykelly's review
5.0
Excellent, faithful prequel, stories about the characters you care about.
It's been a while since I read Kipling's original, but from the start the style and tone of this put me in mind of the stories and characters.
I loved these, five stories, each told to or about Mowgli the young boy, in the days before the stories of the Jungle Books.
There is humour as well as pathos in the origin stories of Kaa, Mowgli's wolf family, Baloo and Bagheera, and some wonderfully entertaining tales of the jungle linking Shere Khan to the characters and seeing the motivations behind the characters and how they might have come together for Kipling's own creation.
Clever, well thought-out, with fleshed-out animal characters. These are "stories of family and friendship, loyalty and jungle law", so quite loyal to Kipling's own themes.
Children will delight in small details: Mowgli's home "smelt reassuringly of wolf-breath and dry earth, unless the smallest of the wolf cubs, Bhedi, had farted."
There are characters that play walk-on roles that we all remember - Colonel Hathi for example.
And there is humour in Rundell's creation of the rats, here not a pest but rather a refined, "fair-minded and elegant" species who won't use one word when twenty will do: "'would you please to tate the first morsel of flesh of the delectable decaying carcass laid out by providence before us?'"
I thoroughly enjoyed this, it took me back to the reading of my childhood, and sits perfectly in my mind as a prequel to The Jungle Books. I can only comment on the text, not having seen an illustrated edition, though I imagine it would make an excellent gift judging by the cover (if I am allowed!) that I have seen.
A flowing style that feels older but isn't difficult to read for a contemporary young audience. The familiar characters will suck in readers, and the stories are exciting and rather funny, with superb links to the original.
For ages 9-14. And any adults who love the classics, this would complement a Kipling on the shelf.
With thanks to Netgalley for the sample reading copy.
It's been a while since I read Kipling's original, but from the start the style and tone of this put me in mind of the stories and characters.
I loved these, five stories, each told to or about Mowgli the young boy, in the days before the stories of the Jungle Books.
There is humour as well as pathos in the origin stories of Kaa, Mowgli's wolf family, Baloo and Bagheera, and some wonderfully entertaining tales of the jungle linking Shere Khan to the characters and seeing the motivations behind the characters and how they might have come together for Kipling's own creation.
Clever, well thought-out, with fleshed-out animal characters. These are "stories of family and friendship, loyalty and jungle law", so quite loyal to Kipling's own themes.
Children will delight in small details: Mowgli's home "smelt reassuringly of wolf-breath and dry earth, unless the smallest of the wolf cubs, Bhedi, had farted."
There are characters that play walk-on roles that we all remember - Colonel Hathi for example.
And there is humour in Rundell's creation of the rats, here not a pest but rather a refined, "fair-minded and elegant" species who won't use one word when twenty will do: "'would you please to tate the first morsel of flesh of the delectable decaying carcass laid out by providence before us?'"
I thoroughly enjoyed this, it took me back to the reading of my childhood, and sits perfectly in my mind as a prequel to The Jungle Books. I can only comment on the text, not having seen an illustrated edition, though I imagine it would make an excellent gift judging by the cover (if I am allowed!) that I have seen.
A flowing style that feels older but isn't difficult to read for a contemporary young audience. The familiar characters will suck in readers, and the stories are exciting and rather funny, with superb links to the original.
For ages 9-14. And any adults who love the classics, this would complement a Kipling on the shelf.
With thanks to Netgalley for the sample reading copy.
l1nds's review
5.0
"We are never fighting only for ourselves. We fight for the survivors. Because somebody always survives."
This is a beautifully illustrated collection of stories which, although it adds backstories to several characters from the original books, doesn't require any prior knowledge to enjoy. I say this quite confidently as someone who saw the Disney film once as a child but never read the book!
Katherine Rundell weaves her usual magic to bring the jungle and it's inhabitants gloriously to life (Bagheera was a particular favourite). Four characters - Raksha, Bagheera, Baloo and Kaa - have the spotlight shone on them, before everything is tied together with a final adventure involving almost the whole jungle! Without being preachy for a second the stories impart some (much needed in these troubled times) messages of tolerance, teamwork, and fighting for what you believe in (and on behalf of those not able to do so themselves).
The illustrations are gorgeous and I can only imagine they're even more impressive in the book than on my relatively small smartphone screen. I would recommend this book for children of all ages, from 7 to 70!
jenpa87's review
5.0
Another gem by Rundell; I look forward to sharing it with my children when we have seen Mowgli.
allisonwebster's review
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
3.75
Nothing can match the original, but it was good to be back in the jungle again.
mazza57's review
5.0
This is a fabulous book which puts Mowgli and his friends back into the Jungle. Baloo and Kaa among others recount stories of jungle life that paint vivid portraits of both the jungle and life itself. Each carries with it a moral. I think they lend themselves beautifully to being read aloud they have just a spicing of fear or thrill within them and the morals would bear discussing with your child. Like Kipling I think Rundell's stories could be translated to film and I see this a s a book to be read both in schools and at home.
clairee3's review
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
the_dragon_starback's review
4.0
This was average at the time of reading, but I think it is one of those books that gets better as one dwells on it. It is not my favourite of Katherine Rundell's writing, but it does feel like jungle writing. The illustrations, however, were marvelous.
Some favourite quotes:
"Bagheera tried very hard not to look pleased; he did not succeed, not even slightly."
"A beginning is a precious ting. as delicate and fragile as a newborn starling."
"The tales all tell the same story: that we fight and keep on fighting."
"Before Mother Wolf was a mother, she was a fighter; now she was both, and there was nothing more deadly in the whole of the jungle."
Some favourite quotes:
"Bagheera tried very hard not to look pleased; he did not succeed, not even slightly."
"A beginning is a precious ting. as delicate and fragile as a newborn starling."
"The tales all tell the same story: that we fight and keep on fighting."
"Before Mother Wolf was a mother, she was a fighter; now she was both, and there was nothing more deadly in the whole of the jungle."
rabbitholereader's review
5.0
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[b:Into the Jungle: Stories for Mowgli|38812918|Into the Jungle Stories for Mowgli|Katherine Rundell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1537423419s/38812918.jpg|60386784] is a collection of five short stories by [a:Katherine Rundell|4511275|Katherine Rundell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1505127171p2/4511275.jpg] that delve into the background of [a:Rudyard Kipling|6989|Rudyard Kipling|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1550677494p2/6989.jpg]'s beloved characters, Raksha, Bagheera, Shere Khan, Baloo and Kaa. She talks about their origin, positively correlating each background with the well known personality of every individual character. Each of the stories are compelling; for both children and adults.
Every story weaves it's way into an inspiring plot, joining together at the end to form a cacoon of words around each origin tale. [a:Katherine Rundell|4511275|Katherine Rundell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1505127171p2/4511275.jpg]'s narrative is storytelling in it's truest, most endearing form; each written word chosen carefully to reflect the jungle and combine respective personalities into one, languid account. Her stories not only give justice to the original children's classic, but add a depth to them, as well.
The illustrations are gorgeously intricate, detailed to an immensely high standard. Each picture enforces the imagery produced by the enthralling narrative and portrayed a stunning piece of the classic story. The decision and addition of illustration was a decidedly epic one, and bought to life a story where words could fail, I thoroughly drank in the pictures and explored them with not only my eye's, but shoved them in the face of my partner, too, so he could also appreciate how the stories and illustrations were making me feel. The effect for him was a little less, sure, but the envy was clear on his face.
I'm thinking this one will have to go on my bookshelf. My bookshelf looks and feels empty without it.
Thank you to Net Galley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
danielle_2910's review
4.0
4/5 - I really enjoyed this book! To begin with, all of the short stories were wonderful and the accompanying illustrations were gorgeous. All of the familiar characters from the Jungle Book are included and a few of those are given great back story that allowed me to feel more acquainted with them. I especially enjoyed Baloo's story and the underlying meaning behind it as well as the last story which somehow managed bring together all of the stories and provided a brilliant ending to the story.