The Jungle Book

A boy is raised by wolves. That is only the first story. The jungle has a Law, a tiger who does not keep it, and a Pack that will vote on whether a man-cub counts. Then the book leaves Mowgli behind: a mongoose in a bungalow, a seal who wants a beach the hunters cannot find, elephants who remember, army beasts talking after lights-out. Songs between the tales. Blood in the grass. No stuffed animals. This is not the film. Kipling wrote a wild, funny, merciless set of hunts — and the wolves are already singing.