BOOKS

The Jungle book is a collection of short stories the most famous being based around a young boy surviving in the jungle after being adopted by wolf and raised as a "man-cub" Mowgli. There is also a different collection of stories in there such as the law of the Jungle whih is an informative guide for families and communities living in the jungle.

The Just So Stories typically have the theme of a particular animal being modified from an original form to its current form by the acts of man, or some magical being. For example, the Whale has a tiny throat because he swallowed a mariner, who tied a raft inside to block the whale from swallowing other men. The Camel has a hump given to him by a djinn as punishment for the camel's refusing to work (the hump allows the camel to work longer between times of eating). The Leopard's spots were painted by an Ethiopian (after the Ethiopian painted himself black). The Kangaroo gets its powerful hind legs, long tail, and hopping gait after being chased all day by a dingo, sent by a minor god responding to the Kangaroo's request to be made different from all other animals

The story follows the experiences of a young mongoose named Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (for his chattering vocalizations) after he was adopted into a British family residing in a bungalow in India, as a pet and as protection against venomous snakes. After becoming acquainted with some of the other creatures inhabiting the garden, Rikki is warned of two cobras Nag and Nagaina, who are angered by the family's presence on the territory which they had previously dominated. Nag enters the house's bathroom before dawn but is attacked by Rikki. The struggle that ensues awakens the human family and the father kills Nag with a double-barrelled shotgun.

Nagaina, grieving, attempts revenge against Rikki's human family, cornering them as they take breakfast on an outdoor veranda. While Nagaina has been distracted by the wife of a bird named Darzee, Rikki has destroyed the cobra's unhatched brood of eggs except for one. He now carries it to where Nagaina is threatening to bite the child Teddy while his parents watch helplessly. Nagaina, enraged, recovers her egg, but, pursued by Rikki-Tikki to the cobra's underground nest where an unseen final battle takes place. Rikki emerges triumphantly from the hole, declaring Nagaina's death. His subsequent role is to protect the family by keeping the garden free from any future intrusion by snakes.

LAST BOOK BY RUDYARD KIPLING

This is the autobiography of the great writer and poet Rudyard Kipling detailing his entire life and carrer from as young as he could remember.