The Jungle Book: A review

My first official book review! It is for the first of the Vancouver Sun books.

Title: The Jungle Book

Author: Rudyard Kipling

Synopsis: The first half of the book follows Mowgli, a young boy raised by wolves in the jungle. He is taught the Law of the Jungle by Baloo, the bear. When he is kidnapped by the bander-log (monkeys) Baloo, Kaa (a snake), and Bagheera (a panther) must team up to rescue him. But what happens when Mowgli must fight Shere Khan, the tiger who wishes to kill Mowgli? Read the book to find out.
The second half of the book is made up of short stories about various animals from around the world.
"The White Seal" is about a young white seal who wishes to find a peaceful place for all seals where no man can come and kill them.
"Rikki-tikki-tavi" is about a mongoose who protects a family's garden against snakes.
"Toomai of the Elephants" is about a young boy who earns the respect of Petersen Sahib.
"Her Majesties Servants" is the night time conversation between two mules, a camel, a troop horse, two bulls, and an elephant about their various ways of fighting and serving their men.
Between each chapter and short story there is a page long poem (which I glanced over but didn't really read because I'm not all that fond of poetry).

My rating (1-10): 7/10

Age group: All ages (probably 6+)

Why I liked the story: I found the stories entertaining and beautifully written with humorous dialogue and lovely descriptions. I loved the short stories, especially "The White Seal," "Rikki-tikki-tavi," (which everyone should read sometime or another... I read it in writing class once), and "Her Majesty's Servants."
The morals of the stories were heroic and I enjoyed reading such simple morals such as, "even though we are different, we can still get along" and "if you misbehave, you will be punished."
I loved that instead of the animals being "mates" they were married.

Why I disliked the story/things you need to know: Mowgli gets beaten a lot when he does wrong things. I found it so be a little much and younger readers should have mom or dad pre-read the book to see if it is too violent.
In "Toomai of the Elephants" Little Toomai is kind of worshipped at the end... I didn't really like that part. Also, men talk of ghosts and spirits inhabiting animals (which doesn't happen - the animals usually laugh at the silly men). Idol gods are also mentioned.
Mowgli's story ended so quickly! It is only 74 of the 159 pages. It is basically just a short story that happens to be longer than the other short stories in the book. I was sad when it ended so quickly and wanted to keep reading. But once I started reading the short stories, I forgot all about Mowgli; I liked (some of) them better than Mowgli's story!

Will I read it again? I will probably read it to my future kids but not before then.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. I think that it is a great children's story. It would be a good one to put on reading lists.

And now, the wonderful Clair at Working Title (by the way, I love the name of your blog!) has tagged me!

Here is how it is going to go:
Post 11 random facts about yourself.
Answer 11 questions provided by the person who tagged you.
Post 7 more random facts about yourself.
Thank the person who tagged you.

Thank you Clair for tagging me!

11 random facts about myself:
1. I just updated the "books" page on my blog. Go check it out. ;)
2. I have monkeys hanging on my fridge.
3. All my friends are getting their braces off this month.
4. I have only seen The Lion King once and that was when I was really little.
5. I watched The Princess Bride last night. "Inconceivable!"
6. The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle.
7. Who's on first.
8. I love Robin Hood by Howard Pyle!
9. I love Danny Kaye and Donald O'Connor!
10. Muppets make me laugh.
11. My favorite kinds of movies are the old funny ones (White Christmas, Singin' in the Rain, The Great Race, The Court Jester, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Bed Knobs and Broomsticks, Guys and Dolls, Star Trek 4 heh heh.....)

11 questions from Clair:

1. Olympics?

a) yes (sort of... We don't have cable. I don't usually follow the Olympics but I love the opening/closing ceremonies!)

b) a

2. favourite Disney villain?
That is a hard question. *runs through list of Disney movies* All Disney movies or just the princesses? Hmmm... I like Gaston from "Beauty and the Beast." And Cruella DeVile from "101 Dalmatians." And Jafar from "Alladin."

3. Are you shy?
I used to be. I'm not so much anymore.... Except on certain occasions. I try not to be.

4. Do you ever read the last page and then try to figure out how they got there?
Yes! I read the last page of a book ALL the time! I usually do it just to find out what happens... Usually I don't guess what happens in between.

5. Your opinion on giraffes?
They smell BAD. But they are great fun to watch! And they have pretty spots. So odd... God is a great creator. =D

6. Have you ever travelled out of your home country?
I travel to Canada regularly to visit extended family. We have plans to visit Holland in the next few years and I hope to visit (London) England eventually. And Scotland, I've heard it's beautiful there. And New Zealand! I want to go to Hobbiton.

7. Does this count as a question?
Yes. Anything with a question mark that has an answer is a question.

8. If Hogwarts, what house? If Narnia, which Pevensie sibling? Feel free to interpret this any way you choose.
I've never read/watched Harry Potter but I think I'd be a Ravenclaw. If I was in Narnia.... I think I'd probably be Peter. O.o Awkward....

9. Favourite Shakespeare play? (I'm assuming you're cultured)
AHHHH! You are me to CHOOSE??!! *dies*
Ummmm.... I love a lot of Shakespeare plays. My favorite is probably "Hamlet" for a reason I have yet to discover (I haven't read the play yet, just watched it. I plan to read it in the future sometime). I also love "The Comedy of Errors" and "Twelfth Night" and "Much Ado About Nothing" and "Macbeth."

10. If you had to pick just one place to live for the rest of your life, where would it be? Explanation appreciated but not required.
Hmmm... That's a hard question since I really haven't been many places in my life. I'm fine where I am right now. The homeschool laws are very, very good in my state. I would also LOVE to live in Alexandria Virginia because it just seems so cultured there. It's by the water, it's near Washington DC, it has street performers, it has all sorts of little stores full of everything you would love to buy but don't need, and it has wacky restaurants!

11. How do you say "polar bear" in French?
*goes to Google Translate* "Ours blanc." Thanks Google!

7 random facts about yourself:
1. I play Christmas music on the piano through out the year. I also listen to Christmas music through out the year....
2. I'm %100 Dutch. Ik komt uit Nederlands.
3. Paul McCartney rocks.
4. I don't like Spam! (which actually isn't true... I like Spam. I just had to get that quote in here somewhere).
5. I found this picture last night on someones blog and it made me laugh:

6. I also found this picture on the same blog post and it made me laugh (especially "Can I come near your beauty with my nail?")

7. Heh heh... These pictures make me laugh and smile:

(I love how 4's scarf is entangling everyone else. And 10! Oh my word!)

(One of my favorite pictures ever, just sayin'.)

(Credit for this lovely picture of 9,10, and 11 goes to some person on DeviantArt whose name I have forgotten! Her/his name is in the bottom right corner of the picture.)

I tag Jessica at Authorly Insane.

Jen at Love Life. (whenever you happen to be on Blogger next).

And my dear friend ShiningHisLight97. (whenever you happen to be on Blogger next).

Have a great weekend!

EDIT: I totally forgot about the 11 questions for the people I tag! Haha. Here they are:

1. What are your goals for the following school year?

2. If you could meet one dead author, who would it be?

3. If you could meet one alive author, who would it be?

4. What elements (to you) make up a good spy/espionage story?

5. Do you have delayed reaction moments?

6. Did you ever play on Webkinz.com?

7. What is your favorite animal?

8. What is your favorite color?

8. Have you ever cooked a meal for your family before? With or without help?

9. What is your favorite genre of story (romance, comedy, adventure, sci-fi, horror, thriller, etc.)?

10. Do you like water?

11. If you could meet one fictional character, who would it be?