This wise and witty companion to Rudyard Kipling's 1894 classic is likewise a series of connected stories about the man-cub Mowgli and his adventures among the animals in the Indian jungle. It includes all the original favorites like Baloo and Bagheera and gives female characters, like Mother Wolf, a more prominent role in Mowgli's upbringing. The timely theme of the possibility of understanding and empathy across species, cultures, and genders will resonate with contemporary readers.
Icelandic-born Kristjana S. Williams is an award-winning illustrator and designer whose commissions include art for the Rio Olympic Games and The Wonder Garden, written by Jenny Broom.
[The] follow-up makes for an engaging read, as Mowgli develops from a rather self-centered child to one who cares about his extended jungle family. Rundell's values-based narrative and Williams' earthy images reinforce the importance of different species' understanding one another and working together. Rundell emphasizes unity in diversity in this 21st-century companion to a complicated 19th-century classic.
--Kirkus Reviews