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A review by kevin_shepherd
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
4.0
Be aware that Rudyard Kipling and Walt Disney are two completely separate personalities with two completely separate philosophies about the level of violence appropriate for children. Kipling’s Baloo (the bear) is a bruising, heavy-pawed disciplinarian and Shere Khan (the tiger) is even more sinister than Disney’s G-rated cartoon lead us to believe.
My edition of Jungle Book #1 also contains the stand-alone stories of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (a mongoose) and Kotick (a white seal), along with other sundry tales of camels, mules, horses, donkeys, and bullocks.* It’s a veritable potpourri of anthropomorphic zoology.
Kipling gets four instead of five stars in protest of his obvious and unjust ophidiophobia. Snakes in Kipling’s universe get a bad rap. Nag (a cobra) and Nagaina (also a cobra) are villains of the worst sort, and Kaa (a python) isn’t much better. Pass the word: cobras and pythons (and anacondas and black mambas) need a little love too!
*Bullock: (British English) a castrated male bovine animal of any age.
My edition of Jungle Book #1 also contains the stand-alone stories of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (a mongoose) and Kotick (a white seal), along with other sundry tales of camels, mules, horses, donkeys, and bullocks.* It’s a veritable potpourri of anthropomorphic zoology.
Kipling gets four instead of five stars in protest of his obvious and unjust ophidiophobia. Snakes in Kipling’s universe get a bad rap. Nag (a cobra) and Nagaina (also a cobra) are villains of the worst sort, and Kaa (a python) isn’t much better. Pass the word: cobras and pythons (and anacondas and black mambas) need a little love too!
*Bullock: (British English) a castrated male bovine animal of any age.