The Jungle Book: a bedtime read about Mowgli, the pack and the Law of the Jungle

Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera, Kaa the python and Shere Khan the tiger — even people who have never opened the book know these characters from the films. But Kipling’s Jungle Book is nothing like the Disney version: not a jolly musical but stern, beautiful stories about law, the pack, and what it is to be an outsider among your own. It reads well at bedtime by chapters — each story stands alone, with a beginning and an end, just one evening’s worth.

An extract

This is how the first story, ‘Mowgli’s Brothers’, begins:

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“It was seven o’clock of a very warm evening in the Seeonee hills when Father Wolf woke up from his day’s rest.”

And here is the book’s central idea — the Law of the Jungle: “The Law of the Jungle… never orders anything without a reason.” The whole world of the book rests on this law, and Mowgli must learn it.

Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book (1894). The text is in the public domain. The full English text is free on Project Gutenberg (link below).

Why it is worth reading tonight

Because it is one of the finest examples of pure storytelling: clear language, a strong plot, animals that think and speak yet remain animals. For children, adventure and friendship; for adults, a question Kipling asks in earnest: what makes you one of your own — blood or upbringing. Start with ‘Mowgli’s Brothers’; if the pack stories grip you, a whole book and its sequel lie ahead.

About the author

Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) was born in Bombay, and India remained the main subject of his prose. He wrote The Jungle Book in 1894. In 1907 Kipling became the youngest ever Nobel laureate in Literature. He is buried in London, in Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey.

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Where to go

The house in Sussex. From 1902 until his death Kipling lived at Bateman’s in the village of Burwash, East Sussex; today it is a National Trust house. The house is open 11:00–16:30, the garden 10:00–17:00; an adult ticket is £18 (£19.80 with Gift Aid), a child 5–17 £9, under-5s free. Last entry 30 minutes before closing.

A plaque in London. At 43 Villiers Street by Charing Cross a blue plaque marks where Kipling lived in 1889–1891. Free to see — it is an ordinary street.

The grave. Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. The Abbey charges for entry — check hours and price on its website before visiting.

Where to get it

Free and legal. The full English text is on Project Gutenberg. To find it in a library near you, use the Library Hub Discover catalogue. Links below.

To buy. An English edition is in every bookshop in Britain. For the Russian translation, try the Russian-language bookshops — children’s stock at Bookashka. Check stock and price on the shop’s own site.