Download If— Study Guide
What Do I Read Next?
(Poetry for Students)
Rewards and Fairies (1910) is a collection of children’s stories by Kipling, a sequel to Puck of Pook’s Hill. “If” was first published in this collection as a companion piece to the story “Brother Square Toes.”
Something of Myself (1937) is Kipling’s autobiography, in which he discusses his life, his work, and his political beliefs. It provides a humorous insight into the mind of a man at once popular and notorious for his blunt style and political views.
The Jungle Book (1894) and The Second Jungle Book (1895) are Kipling’s most famous and endearing works. The books contain a collection of stories for children, set in the jungles of India and featuring animals as their main characters. The most popular stories feature the character of Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves in the jungle.
Captains Courageous (1897) is a coming-of-age novel by Kipling that relates the adventures of a rich, spoiled boy who is rescued from a shipwreck by a fishing boat. This novel is typically classified as juvenilia.
Kim (1901) is often argued to be Kipling’s most mature novel. The main character, Kim, also known as Kimball O’Hara, is the orphaned son of an Irish soldier who lives on the streets of India. In search of his destiny, Kim embarks on travels that bring him in contact with such figures as the Tibetan Dalai Lama. Although the novel contains several racial stereotypes, it has been praised in modern times for its ability to rise above the racism that characterized other contemporary works, and it is widely viewed as Kipling’s best work.
A Brief History of India (2003), by Alain Daniélou, provides an insightful and easy to follow portrait of a country that figured prominently in Kipling’s life and writing.
A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885, reprint, 1999, with illustrations by Tasha Tudor), by celebrated writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), is filled with poems for young readers. Stevenson lived at the same time as Kipling and wrote children’s literature as well as adult literature, like Kipling.