The King of the Jungle

By Ketana Hirusava

ISBN: 1547056959

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra                   

Summary

The fairy tale of a friendship between man and tiger 
This story is a good healer who found and treated a baby tiger. When the tiger grew up and became stronger, the man brought him into the jungle. However, the tiger didn’t forget his old man. When the healer was in danger, the animal saved his life. 
This is an amazing story of a friendship between people and animals. The story of a kind healer and his tiger will help children to understand that kindness returns. 
Colorful and vivid illustrations will help the small readers to see the beauty of this good story. 

Review

The King of the Jungle is a heartfelt children’s book telling the story of an orphaned baby tiger. The tiger is found by a “healer”, then brought into his village.  The baby tiger lives with the healer, growing and maturing, until one day the healer takes the tiger to live in the wild again. The tiger remembers the healer when they run across each other in the wild at a future date and due to their previous relationship, the tiger does not attach the man (the healer).  

While the story is put off by the translation.  I felt that with proper translation, it could have kept its simplistic charm without degrading the storytelling.  The less than stellar translation took a bit away from the story telling for me.

On the other hand, the illustrations by Gudova Ekaterina were just delightful.  Colourful and playful.

Overall, a pleasant read suitable for young children (ages 7 – 10) with a strong morale component.