Rudyard Kipling

Librarian's Note: Alternate cover edition can be found here. Twelve stories about animals, insects, and other subjects include How the Camel Got His Hump. The Butterfly That Stamped, and How the Alphabet Was Made..

A pampered millionaire's son tumbles overboard from a luxury liner and falls into good fortune, disguised in the form of a fishing boat. The gruff and hearty crew teach the young man to be worth his salt as they fish the waters off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Brimming with adventure and humor.

Set after the Second Afghan War which ended in 1881, but before the Third fought in 1919, probably in the period 1893 to 1898. The novel is notable for its detailed portrait of the people, culture, and varied religions of India. The book presents a vivid picture of India, its teeming populations, religions, and superstitions, and the life of the bazaars and the road. Two men - a boy who grows into early manhood and an old ascetic priest, the lama - are at the center of the novel. A quest faces them both. Born in India, Kim is nevertheless white, a sahib. While he wants to play the Great Game of Imperialism, he is also spiritually bound to the lama. His aim, as he moves chameleon-like through the two cultures, is to reconcile these opposing strands, while the lama searches for redemption from the Wheel of Life. A celebration of their friendship in a beautiful but often hostile environment, 'Kim' captures the opulence of India's exotic landscape, overlaid by the uneasy presence of the British Raj.

'There is no harm in a man's cub.' Best known for the 'Mowgli' stories, Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book expertly interweaves myth, morals, adventure and powerful story-telling. Set in Central India, Mowgli is raised by a pack of wolves. Along the way he encounters memorable characters such as the foreboding tiger Shere Kahn, Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear. Including other stories such as that of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a heroic mongoose and Toomai, a young elephant handler, Kipling's fables remain as popular today as they ever were.

The Jungle Books can be regarded as classic stories told by an adult to children. But they also constitute a complex literary work of art in which the whole of Kipling's philosophy of life is expressed in miniature. They are best known for the 'Mowgli' stories; the tale of a baby abandoned and brought up by wolves, educated in the ways and secrets of the jungle by Kaa the python, Baloo the bear, and Bagheera the black panther. The stories, a mixture of fantasy, myth, and magic, are underpinned by Kipling's abiding preoccupation with the theme of self-discovery, and the nature of the 'Law'.

Kipling portrays school as the first stage of a much larger game, a pattern maker for the experiences of life. Implied throughout the book is the question 'What happened to the fifteen-year boys, and how did the lessons they learned at school apply to the world of warfare and imperial government?' These stories are based on Kipling's own schooling, the United Services College at Westward Ho! in Devon.

"Now this is the next tale, and it tells how the Camel got his big hump..." Once upon a time, when the world was "new-and-all," Man turned to the animals for help—to the horse for carrying, the dog for fetching, the ox for plowing. But the camel refused to do a lick of work, haughtily replying "Humpf!" to all requests. The other animals complained of the inequity to the Djinn of all the Deserts, who, sympathetic but mischievous, used his powerful magic to punish the lazy camel. This beloved story of how the camel got his hump is a comical tale of justice delivered, that's filled with fanciful wordplay and illustrated with wit and great charm by F. Rojankovsky. Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) is often regarded as the unofficial Laureate of the British Empire. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907, and is well known for works of fiction that include 'The Jungle Book' (1894), 'Kim' (1901), and many short stories, including 'The Man Who Would Be King' (1888). His poems include 'Mandalay', 'Gunga Din', 'The Gods of the Copybook Headings' (1919), 'The White Man's Burden' (1899), and 'If—' (1910). He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story, and his children's books are considered timeless classics of children's literature.