The Jungle Books collect some of the most beloved children' s stories ever written, since they were first published in magazines starting in 1893. The stories feature Mowgli, a foundling raised in the Seeonee hills of India by a pack of wolves, a wise black panther named Bagheera, and a gruff but lovable bear called Baloo. The books also include the beloved tale of the mongoose " Rikki-tikki-tavi," " The White Seal," and many more. These stories helped confirm Rudyard Kipling as one of the greatest children' s authors of any era, as well as one of the greatest writers and poets in the English language.