Rikki-tikki-tavi - Hardcover

In this glorious picture book, Pinkney's accessible retelling and dramatic watercolors plunge readers into the lush garden Rikki rules and the life of the family he comes to guard. The large pictures (often spreading across much of a facing page) can barely contain the mongoose's energy as his lithe body twists and turns, evading and attacking the cobras and the brown snake, curling in young Teddy's arms, and basking in the family's adulation. Pinkney's humans are not idealized, and Rikki, while eminently pettable, is not anthropomorphized. The subdued natural colors of the animals contrast with the garden's riot. The splash of a yellow squash blossom; Teddy's crimson shirt; a scarlet hibiscus, or the burnished head of Darzee, the tailor bird, add grace notes to the shimmering pages. This great story has been given the loving treatment it deserves.
" School Library Journal

"Pinkney applies his considerable talents to the smooth retelling and lush illustration of one of Kipling's best-loved animal tales.... A captivating work." "Publishers Weekly, " 6/2/97

Here is the thrilling story of Rikki, a fearless young mongoose who develops a very special bond with a boy named Teddy.