I'm a Kipling fan....no other poet has ever touched my fancy as this chronicular of the common man. Too many peoeple today simply dismiss him as both racist and imperialist (in other words, judging a 19th century man by 20/21st century standards) but he was of that last generation of poets who tried to learn about their subjects instead of being like the shallow poets of today.This short collection of time honored favorites like the Jungle Book, Rikki Tikki Tavi (the girls loved the great snake fight!), and the White Seal all still glow with life. Real life is illustrated here, not white washed Hollywood stories where nothing really dies but the interaction between predator and prey is ever present.Kipling in today's world is not something allowed in schools, more the pity. His writings make most of what kids today have to read insipid. I only hope other parents/grandparents will allow their offspring the chance to see life how it was and often is today...