HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics. ‘The man’s cub is mine, Lungri – mine to me!

He shall not be killed. He shall live to run with the Pack and to hunt with the Pack; and in the end, look you, hunter of little naked cubs – frog-eater – fish-killer – he shall hunt thee!’ Mowgli, the man-cub, is raised in the Indian jungle by a pack of wolves.

As he grows older, he learns the ‘Law of the Jungle’ with the help of his friends, Bagheera the Panther, Baloo the Bear and Kaa the Python, who try to keep him safe from fearsome Shere Khan, the tiger.

Eventually he comes into contact with his own kind, and begins to question his very nature. One of the greatest myths ever told, and the subject of numerous film adaptations, The Jungle Book is Rudyard Kipling’s best-known work.

Drawing on his own childhood spent in India, as well as ancient fables, these stories of good and evil, and man and nature, have captivated readers for generations.