Rudyard Kipling

The Jungle Book introduces Mowgli, the boy foundling adopted by a family of wolves, Shere Khan the tiger, Bagheera the black panther and Baloo the sleepy brown bear.

How did the Leopard get his spots? How did the Elephant get his trunk? In Just So Stories Kipling wittily supplies the answers to these and other questions.

Puck of Pook's Hill relates how Dan and Una's magical meeting with Puck, the last of the People of the Hills, leads to their adventures with Romans and Crusaders, Saxons and Vikings… And later, in Rewards and Fairies, the three meet an array of characters ranging from Iron Age warriors to 'Good Queen Bess' and Sir Francis Drake.

In Kipling's rattling school yarn Stalky & Co, Stalky, M'Turk and the Beetle are a trio of scallywags with a keen desire to break the rules, their unruly activities give the stories an enduring appeal to all children - especially those who have ever wilted beneath the stern glance of a peevish schoolmaster.

Kipling's wry, sometimes tongue-in-cheek style will delight and entertain young readers while adults throughout the world will remember his stories with affection.