The Second Jungle Book is a sequel to The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. First published in 1895, it features five stories about Mowgli and three unrelated stories, all but one set in India, most of which Kipling wrote while living in Vermont. From all accounts, Kipling loved the outdoors, not least of whose marvels in Vermont was the turning of the leaves each fall. He described this moment in a letter: "A little maple began it, flaming blood-red of a sudden where he stood against the dark green of a pine-belt. Next morning there was an answering signal from the swamp where the sumacs grow. Three days later, the hill-sides as fast as the eye could range were afire, and the roads paved, with crimson and gold. Then a wet wind blew, and ruined all the uniforms of that gorgeous army; and the oaks, who had held themselves in reserve, buckled on their dull and bronzed cuirasses and stood it out stiffly to the last blown leaf, till nothing remained but pencil-shadings of bare boughs, and one could see into the most private heart of the woods." In The Second Jungle Book, each story is followed by a related poem. The first story, How Fear Came, takes place before Mowgli fights Shere Khan. During a drought, Mowgli and the animals gather at a shrunken Wainganga River for a Water Truce" where the display of the blue-coloured Peace Rock prevents anyone from hunting at its riverbanks. This story can be seen as a forerunner of the Just So Stories. Enjoy free online English audiobook “The Second Jungle Book”, Rudyard Kipling’s story for children.
