The Jungle Books, published in two volumes in 1894 and 1895, is Kipling’s most renowned and beloved work. This collection of children's stories is set in the jungles of India and features animals as the central characters. The most well-known stories revolve around Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves in the jungle. ‘‘Rikki-Tikki-Tavi’’ is included in the second volume.

Puck of Pook’s Hill (1906) is one of Kipling’s lesser-known children's novels. Similar to The Jungle Books, it presents a fantasy world where Puck, the fairy from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, appears to children who are performing the play and takes them on adventures.

Just-So Stories (1902) is another collection of children’s tales by Rudyard Kipling. This series uses Indian folklore to whimsically explain the origins of various animals. Notable stories include ‘‘How the Leopard Got Its Spots’’ and ‘‘The Cat That Walked by Himself.’’

Captains Courageous (1897) is a coming-of-age novel by Kipling that narrates the adventures of a wealthy, spoiled boy who is rescued from a shipwreck by a fishing boat. This novel is generally considered suitable for young readers.

Kim (1901) is often regarded as Kipling’s most sophisticated novel. The protagonist, Kim, also known as Kimball O’Hara, is the orphaned son of an Irish soldier living on the streets of India. In his quest for purpose, he encounters figures such as the Tibetan Dalai Lama. Despite containing some racial stereotypes, the novel has been praised in modern times for transcending the racism prevalent in other works of its era.

The Wind in the Willows, by Scottish writer Kenneth Grahame, is a collection of children’s stories published in 1924, around the same period Kipling was writing. Similar to many of Kipling’s children’s stories, it features an imaginary world inhabited by distinctively characterized animals, reflecting a popular trend in children’s literature.

A Passage to India, a novel by English writer E. M. Forster, was first published in 1924 when India was still under British rule. The novel, while incorporating some distinctly British colonial perspectives, explores the complexities of interracial relationships and offers hope for reconciliation and mutual respect.

Orientalism (1978), a critical work by post-colonial theorist Edward Said, is a foundational critique of British imperialism and its consequences. Said particularly focuses on how Victorian British literature was used to promote colonization and the exploitation and oppression of other races.