When he wrote THE JUNGLE BOOKS in 1894, Kipling probably did not know that he was creating one of the most popular characters in fiction. The stories of Mowgli, the 'man-cub' and his adventures with Bagheera the Panther, Baloo the Bear and Shere Khan the Tiger have captured the imagination of generations ever since. This volume contains a selection of the Mowgli stories together with the animal stories 'Rikki-tikki-tavi' and 'The Undertaker'. Kipling's stories combine adventure, humour and romance and reveal the author's political and philosophical concerns beneath his simple writing style.