The Jungle Book

　　在這個特別的全新插畫版中，
　　著色畫天后喬漢娜 ‧ 貝斯福（Johanna Basford）最新作品The Magic Jungle
　　將與百讀不厭的經典故事《森林王子》交會出最美妙的火花

　　「你屬於叢林，卻也不屬於叢林。」——黑豹巴希拉
　　在印度出生的英國文學家吉卜林，
　　熱愛印度的一切卻不得不回到英國；
　　他寫下心裡那個富幻想的小男孩毛哥力，
　　穿梭樹林間誤闖寶藏、帶著動物拯救叢林、擊退人類的輝煌事跡；
　　也道出少年對自己我歸屬的困惑與惆悵。

　　毛哥力還是個嬰孩的時候，被老虎謝利汗當作大餐叼到叢林中，陰錯陽差被黑豹用一頭公牛的代價買下，然後由狼夫婦撫養，開始了與叢林共存的日子。總是昏昏欲睡的棕熊巴魯教授他森林中的各種法則與密語，學會跟森林中的各個族群交流；敏捷武勇的黑豹巴希拉跟著他上竄下跳，是他最忠誠的朋友；狼爸爸與狼媽媽對他付出無私的愛，對待他與其他孩子都一視同仁。

　　自由自在長大的毛哥力，叢林生活總是多彩多姿。他曾經被猴族擄走，幸虧老鷹報信，加上美麗大蟒卡雅相助，才突破猴圍；也曾經找到被遺忘的寶藏，差點死在守護者白眼鏡蛇毒牙下，更親眼見證人類為寶藏互相殘殺；更因為死敵老虎謝利汗，一度被趕出叢林回到人類居地，最後帶著一群公牛智取謝利汗。毛哥力在叢林中被叫做人的孩子，在人類居地卻也被視為有巫術的怪物，他的親生父母也因為財富被人覬覦，差點喪命。充滿憤恨的毛哥力即使到這個地步也沒有血洗村莊，而是決定讓村落化為叢林的一部分⋯⋯

　　吉卜林身為最年輕的的諾貝爾文學獎得主（42 歲），在 29 歲的時候先後創作了《叢林之書》與《叢林之書二》，包含十五篇叢林中的故事。吉卜林以擬人化的方式寫作，描繪出一個個印度叢林中的動物面貌，活靈活現並且引人入勝。當中有八篇是以與叢林共生的人類毛哥力為主角，在他獨特的視角下，帶讀者看見叢林中不只是殺戮與強者為王，動物間的溫暖真誠、互助、珍惜都是值得我們反思之處。---中文簡介擷取自中譯本《森林王子》，漫遊者文化出版

　　With a beautiful cover and chapter-heading illustrations throughout from queen of colouring Johanna Basford.

　　The Jungle Book tells the story of the irrepressible Mowgli, who is rescued as a baby from the jaws of the evil tiger, Shere Khan. Raised by wolves and guided by Baloo the bear, Mowgli and his animal friends embark on a series of hair-raising adventures through the jungles of India.
 

作者簡介

魯德亞德・吉卜林 （Rudyard Kipling）

　　生於印度孟買。六歲時雙親帶他前往英國。在成年時期，他曾居住於印度、英國、南非及美國。吉卜林在短篇小說及兒童書的創作上極富盛名。在 1907 年獲得諾貝爾文學奬的殊榮。他於 1936 年辭世後，安葬於倫敦西敏寺的詩人角落。

　　Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay in India in1865 to British parents, and brought by a Portuguese 'ayah' (nanny) and an Indian servant, who would entertain him with fabulous stories and Indian nursery rhymes. He was sent back to England when he was seven years old, and lived in a boarding house with a couple who were cruelly strict. Fortunately he returned to India aged 16, to work as the assistant editor of a newspaper in Lahore. He began publishing stories and poems and eventually had great success with his book Plain Tales from the Hills. After his marriage Kipling settled in America, and it was here that he wrote The Jungle Book. He then moved with his family to England, where he wrote Just So Stories for his daughter Josephine who tragically died of pneumonia. Rudyard Kipling was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907 and died on 18 January 1936.

繪者簡介

喬漢娜‧貝斯福（Johanna Basford）

　　喬漢娜‧貝斯福（Johanna Basford）是一位插畫家，以《祕密花園The Secret Garden》、《魔法森林Enchanted Forest》與《迷幻海洋The Lost Ocean》掀起全球著色畫風潮，她專長手繪細緻的插圖作品，靈感接來自於她位於蘇格蘭鄉間周遭的植物花卉，最新作品為《The Magic Jungle》。

　　Johanna Basford Is an illustrator and ink evangelist who prefers pens and pencils to pixels. Her intricate, hand-drawn illustrations are loved the world over by those who have coloured in (sometimes more than once) her previous bestselling books, Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest. Johanna Is a graduate of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee. She likes sugar mice, floral teacups, peonies and bumblebees.