Re-illustrating The Jungle Book - by Chris Riddell, Bill Bragg, Sarah McIntyre and more

With Rudyard Kipling’s children’s classic The Jungle Book back in everyone’s minds, we approached 10 artists and illustrators to recreate their favourite scene or character from the book

  • Author-illustrator team Sarah McIntyre and Philip Reeve teamed up to create this scene. Philip says: ‘The animals in The Jungle Book aren’t the domesticated, clothes-wearing sort you meet in other books. Baloo and Bagheera feel fierce and dangerous, yet they accept Mowgli as a friend. He gets to hunt and play and laze about with them and they rescue him when he’s captured by those pesky monkeys. I’m not sure if they snuggled up as cosily as they have in Sarah’s illustration, but that’s what I would have liked to do as a child.’
    Author-illustrator team Sarah McIntyre and Philip Reeve teamed up to create this scene. Philip says: ‘The animals in The Jungle Book aren’t the domesticated, clothes-wearing sort you meet in other books. Baloo and Bagheera feel fierce and dangerous, yet they accept Mowgli as a friend. He gets to hunt and play and laze about with them and they rescue him when he’s captured by those pesky monkeys. I’m not sure if they snuggled up as cosily as they have in Sarah’s illustration, but that’s what I would have liked to do as a child.’

  • Illustrator Bill Bragg says: ‘There’s a wonderful darkness to Kipling’s Jungle Book stories and I wanted to capture this atmosphere. Drawing this made me remember several months I spent in the Appalachian Mountains, USA: the forest would come alive at night with the sound of animals. Although The Jungle Book is set in India, I found out that Kipling actually wrote the stories while living close to the Green Mountain range of the Appalachians.’
    Illustrator Bill Bragg says: ‘There’s a wonderful darkness to Kipling’s Jungle Book stories and I wanted to capture this atmosphere. Drawing this made me remember several months I spent in the Appalachian Mountains, USA: the forest would come alive at night with the sound of animals. Although The Jungle Book is set in India, I found out that Kipling actually wrote the stories while living close to the Green Mountain range of the Appalachians.’

  • Artist Ian Andrew was inspired by the abandoned Tout Quarry Sculpture Park and quarries near his Dorset home: ‘strange otherworldly places in which to lose yourself. I wanted to make The Jungle Book characters part of a landscape, seeing them in the rock forms and playing with illusion.’ Ian drew this entirely in pencil and the numbers match the markings on the quarry rocks.
    Artist Ian Andrew was inspired by the abandoned Tout Quarry Sculpture Park and quarries near his Dorset home: ‘strange otherworldly places in which to lose yourself. I wanted to make The Jungle Book characters part of a landscape, seeing them in the rock forms and playing with illusion.’ Ian drew this entirely in pencil and the numbers match the markings on the quarry rocks.

  • Indian artist and book illustrator Prabha Mallya says: ‘This is Mother Wolf, Raksha (the Demon). She is Mowgli’s first ally and stands up for him against Shere Khan, ready to fight to the death. She blazes with such fierce, clear, true power that she would have surely won that battle (if it ever came to it). I enjoy this directness about Raksha – it seemed only natural to paint her directly in ink with no guiding pencil lines, to echo the spontaneity of this scene.’
    Indian artist and book illustrator Prabha Mallya says: ‘This is Mother Wolf, Raksha (the Demon). She is Mowgli’s first ally and stands up for him against Shere Khan, ready to fight to the death. She blazes with such fierce, clear, true power that she would have surely won that battle (if it ever came to it). I enjoy this directness about Raksha – it seemed only natural to paint her directly in ink with no guiding pencil lines, to echo the spontaneity of this scene.’

  • Animator and illustrator Lesley Barnes says: ‘My favourite character is Bagheera the panther. I love his long. languid and graceful motion and that was something I wanted to capture in the illustration. Bagheera and Mowgli have a very special relationship in the story, so I depicted them together, bounding through the jungle.’ Lesley has been drawing lions a lot recently, for her next book Jill and Lion: ‘so it was a nice change to draw a black panther!’
    Animator and illustrator Lesley Barnes says: ‘My favourite character is Bagheera the panther. I love his long. languid and graceful motion and that was something I wanted to capture in the illustration. Bagheera and Mowgli have a very special relationship in the story, so I depicted them together, bounding through the jungle.’ Lesley has been drawing lions a lot recently, for her next book Jill and Lion: ‘so it was a nice change to draw a black panther!’

  • UK Children’s Laureate 2015-2017 Chris Riddell paid homage to Kipling’s beloved, bumbling bear Baloo – a character he says inspired one of his own, The Banderbear from The Edge Chronicles series. ‘The Banderbear protects Twig in the Deepwoods just as Baloo watches over Mowgli in the jungle.’
    UK Children’s Laureate 2015-2017 Chris Riddell paid homage to Kipling’s beloved, bumbling bear Baloo – a character he says inspired one of his own, The Banderbear. ‘The Banderbear protects Twig in the Deepwoods just as Baloo watches over Mowgli in the jungle.’

  • ‘The danger and the excitement at the mention of the name Shere Khan!’ says author and illustrator Kevin Waldron, adding ‘Here I created the moment where he sits at the mouth of the wolves’ cave, demanding Mowgli be handed over to him. The child’s destiny is intertwined with that of a ferocious predator of the jungle.’
    ‘The danger and the excitement at the mention of the name Shere Khan!’ says author and illustrator Kevin Waldron, adding ‘Here I created the moment where he sits at the mouth of the wolves’ cave, demanding Mowgli be handed over to him. The child’s destiny is intertwined with that of a ferocious predator of the jungle.’

  • Artist and calligrapher Jill Calder chose to create the scene from ‘Mowgli’s Brothers’ where Bagheera and Mowgli discuss fire - the ‘red flower’. ‘I particularly like where Mowgli affectionately puts his arm around Bagheera’s neck,’ she says. ‘I own a big, black dog and often sit with my arm around him, so that was the real-life inspiration behind this illustration.’
    Artist and calligrapher Jill Calder chose to create the scene from ‘Mowgli’s Brothers’ where Bagheera and Mowgli discuss fire - the ‘red flower’. ‘I particularly like where Mowgli affectionately puts his arm around Bagheera’s neck,’ she says. ‘I own a big, black dog and often sit with my arm around him, so that was the real-life inspiration behind this illustration.’

  • Artist Robert G Fresson says: ‘I have always been attracted to The Jungle Book because of the smallness of its world. Joining Mowgli and co, I feel that there is nothing else - just a dense, dark jungle. This is Mowgli meeting with Bagheera, an intimate moment the viewer has stumbled upon. Bagheera is almost invisible, while Mowgli is illuminated by the evening light. I like the thought that, were we to watch them a moment longer, they would vanish silently into the jungle’s deep and secret places.’
    Artist Robert G Fresson says: ‘I have always been attracted to The Jungle Book because of the smallness of its world. Joining Mowgli and co, I feel that there is nothing else - just a dense, dark jungle. This is Mowgli meeting with Bagheera, an intimate moment the viewer has stumbled upon. Bagheera is almost invisible, while Mowgli is illuminated by the evening light. I like the thought that, were we to watch them a moment longer, they would vanish silently into the jungle’s deep and secret places.’

  • Children’s book author and illustrator Marta Altés says: ‘Both living in the jungle and having animal friends are things I dreamed about when I was a kid. When I read the Jungle Book, I was a bit jealous of all the adventures Mowgli had. I’ve drawn Mowgli telling Bagheera about his lessons with Baloo, who looks proud because of all the jungle tongues he can speak. Bagheera isn’t sure though – I don’t think he believes this is enough to keep Mowgli safe from all the dangers of the jungle, especially Shere Khan...’
    Children’s book author and illustrator Marta Altés says: ‘Both living in the jungle and having animal friends are things I dreamed about when I was a kid. When I read the Jungle Book, I was a bit jealous of all the adventures Mowgli had. I’ve drawn Mowgli telling Bagheera about his lessons with Baloo, who looks proud because of all the jungle tongues he can speak. Bagheera isn’t sure though – I don’t think he believes this is enough to keep Mowgli safe from all the dangers of the jungle, especially Shere Khan...’
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