Rikki-Tikki-Tavi - Hardcover

Kipling, Rudyard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0152670157 ISBN 13: 9780152670153

Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books, 1992

Synopsis

Rescued from a flood by a small boy and his family, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, an Indian mongoose, sets out to protect his adopted family from two deadly cobras.

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Reviews

Grade 2-4-- One of the most beloved of Kipling's tales, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi tells how a young mongoose outwits the deadly snakes that menace his new family. The epic narrative style accords near-heroic status to Rikki, and he is anthropomorphized enough to be lovable without falling prey to Disneyish cuteness. The humans see him as loyal, clever, fearless, and persistent; but readers will understand that his exploits result from his instincts and nature (and luck) as much as from his ``character.'' Davis's acrylic paintings, on every facing page, depict a suitable 1890s Indian bungalow setting. But the palette is heavy on boring tan, lime, and puce, and the perspective is sometimes awkward; Rikki seems to change size from page to page; and the stiff poses and smooth forms of humans and animals make them look more stuffed than alive. Sadly, this is a so-so edition of a ``Just So'' story. --Patricia Dooley, University of Washington, Seattle
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

With this newly illustrated edition of the treasured classic--written in the 1890s as part of the Jungle Books --readers can once again be captivated by the tale of a mongoose who is taken in by a family of British colonials living in India. Although a few Victorianisms in the text will need to be explained to young readers, the story has held up remarkably well over a century's time. Rikki's fight to defend his family from the menacing cobras Nag and Nagaina remains as suspenseful and emotive as ever. The creatures of the Indian garden come truly alive in Kipling's expert prose--the birds sing out messages of joy and warning; the cobra rears and spreads his sinister hood; the brave mongoose leaps and springs, victorious at last. In Davis's ( The Jolly Mon ; Trouble Dolls ) acrylic paintings, dominated by the greens of the garden and the browns of the earth, readers can clearly see the nut-colored mongoose, his adoptive family in their period dress and the slithering snakes. However, the artist's style and chosen medium produce a somewhat flat, torpid appearance. Razor-sharp writing with rather dull artistic accompaniment. Ages 6-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0152670157
• ISBN 13: 9780152670153
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Davis Lambert
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 37