The Jungle Books - Hardcover

Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay in 1865. During his time at the United Services College, he began to write poetry, privately publishing Schoolboy Lyrics in 1881. The following year he started work as a journalist in India, and while there produced a body of work, stories, sketches, and poems including Mandalay, Gunga Din, and Danny Deeverwhich made him an instant literary celebrity when he returned to England in 1889. While living in Vermont with his wife, an American, Kipling wrote The Jungle Books, Just So Stories, and Kimwhich became widely regarded as his greatest long work, putting him high among the chronicles of British expansion. Kipling returned to England in 1902, but he continued to travel widely and write, though he never enjoyed the literary esteem of his early years. In 1907, he became the first British writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize. He died in 1936

Numerous recordings of The Jungle Books are available, from the comic book variety, to some good dramatizations, to several complete versions of Kipling's tales of Mowgli and his jungle friends. Under the new Big Ben imprint Wanda McCaddon provides a terrific addition to the choices available. McCaddon gives us a "fresh" reading--lively, articulate and smooth. She gives Bagheera, the black panther; Sher Khan, the tiger; and the other jungle creatures marvelous accents which will entrance listeners of all ages. In this recording Kipling's literature has all the sparkle that has entertained generations. R.F.W. An AUDIOFILE Earphones Award winner (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine