LoveReading4Kids Says
Award-winner Katherine Rundell has already taken readers on thrilling journeys over rooftops, across the Russian steppes and of course deep into the forest. She understands absolutely children's longing for wild adventure and no-one is better suited to write new stories for Kipling's Jungle Book characters. This very handsome book, which features beautiful colour illustrations by Kristjana S Williams, tells five different stories, and with each perfectly-imagined episode adds to what we love about Kipling's unforgettable characters, including Bagheera, Baloo, Shere Khan and Kaa. It opens too with a story about one of the most interesting characters, Mowgli's fierce wolf-mother Raksha, who has long deserved more time in the spotlight. These are stories of bravery and cunning, full of excitement and danger, but most of all they are stories of loyalty and community, and by the time they reach the end, readers will be daydreaming themselves into the jungle family. Mowgli links all the stories, and has his own of course, and is exactly the same impetuous, selfish, boasting but warm-hearted, generous boy drawn so vividly by Kipling. In fact the book does exactly what sequels should but seldom manage - it tells us new stories that grow out of the originals, and enhance and enrich them.
Andrea Reece
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Into the Jungle Synopsis
Into the Jungle is a modern classic in the making, as Katherine Rundell creates charming and compelling origin stories for all Kipling's best-loved characters, from Baloo and Shere Khan to Kaa and Bagheera. As Mowgli travels through the Indian jungle, this brilliantly visual tale, which weaves each short story together into a wider whole, will make readers both laugh and cry. Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, first published by Macmillan in 1894, is one of the most enduring books of children's literature, delighting generations of children. Katherine Rundell has taken this as the basis of her new and enchanting tale, sharing the early years of favourite characters and informing the creatures they become in Kipling's classic, with stories about family and friendship, loyalty and jungle law, and a final battle which will decide the future of the forest.
A gorgeously produced paperback with a foiled cover and colour illustrations throughout by creative genius Kristjana S Williams, this is truly a book for all the family to treasure and share.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781509824601 |
| Publication date: |
17th October 2019 |
| Author: |
Katherine Rundell |
| Illustrator: |
Kristjana S Williams |
| Publisher: |
Macmillan Children's Books an imprint of Pan Macmillan |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Suitable For: |
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Katherine Rundell Press Reviews
This engaging tapestry of tales is enhanced by stylish illustrations, rich with colour and detail, which beautifully bring the jungle and its inhabitants to life. - Booktrust
Rundell may well have created a new classic - Sunday Post
Kids will love the colour illustrations - and they'll squiggle and squirm, as Roald Dahl said they would. - SAGA magazine
You'll be transported deep into the Indian jungle for adventures with favourites characters like Baloo and Shere Khan - WRD Magazine
An exciting addition to Kipling's The Jungle Book, with delightful new stories about Mowgli and his friends. It would work wonderfully for reading aloud on Boxing Day. - Good Housekeeping
Created a new set of tales for a new generation - Yorkshire Post
Witty, charming and steeped in the harsh truth of nature, this is an absolute must for all Jungle Book fans, young or old. - Daily Mail
Rundell may have created a new classic collection of tales. - Daily Post Wales, Liverpool Echo, Morley Observer and Advertiser, Birmingham Mail, Grimsby Telegraph, children's Book of the week
An oversize, richly illustrated, heirloom-quality book of origin stories... [Rundell's] lyrical words feel as though they were written to be read aloud in front of a fire... it's impossible not to imagine a room full of younger kids transfixed by the hypnotic action. Williams' richly drawn jungle scapes are equal parts gorgeous and haunting, an irresistible combination. - The New York Times
The magnificent Rundell, [...] takes on Rudyard Kipling with these inventive back stories for everyone from Shere Khan to Baloo. - Independent
Far from defanging their source, Rundell's stories - interweaving Mother Wolf's belligerent past, Bagheera's early tragedy, and Baloo's gift for communication - only enrich its wildness, complemented by Kristjana Williams's lush full-colour illustrations. - Guardian
These beginnings resonate with echoes of Kipling's original and Just So Stories. They are written with mischievous scatological jokes, lively action and characteristic precision and surprise, because, as Baloo says, language matters more than anything else . The stories savour the profusion of the rainforest, as do Williams's spectacularly lavish collages of engravings of animals and plants. - Sunday Times, children's book of the week
These are unforgettable tales of friendship, bravery and jungle lore, and Rundell's writing is an intoxicating mix of precision and wildness... and the lush drama and colour of [Williams'] work makes this an exceptional gift book. -- Fiona Noble - Bookseller, Editor's Pick
Following her Amazon-inspired Costa win Rundell transports us to the Indian jungle for a collection of origin stories for Kipling's best-loved Jungle Book characters, told with charm, with and personality. For children of seven plus, with lush, wild illustrations by Williams. -- Fiona Noble - Bookseller Children's Buyer Guide, Highlights of the Season
Rundell's interpretation is glorious. Telling origin stories of major and minor characters, [Into the Jungle] weaves a rich tapestry of adventure and excitement perfect for any reader. -- Kiran Millwood Hargrave
About Katherine Rundell
Katherine Rundell is a bestselling author whose novels for children include Rooftoppers, The Wolf Wilder, The Explorer and The Good Thieves. She has won the Costa Children’s Book Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, amongst many others. She was a 2021 World Book Day author and has also published two picture books for children and three non-fiction books for adults, including Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne, winner of the 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize, and The Golden Mole and Other Living Treasure, shortlisted for the 2022 Waterstones Book of the Year. Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide.
Katherine spent her childhood in Africa and Europe before taking her degree at the University of Oxford and becoming a Fellow of All Souls College. As well as writing, she studies Renaissance literature and occasionally goes climbing on the rooftops late at night.
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