Thank you so much to net galley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this audiobook! I think this was a beautiful audiobook

I have watched this movie over and over as it is one of my favorites. Listening to this book and the narrator was no disappointment. This lived up to all my expectations I had for it.

I had no idea how boring, long, and drawn out this classic story is. I could not force myself to finish this audiobook, it felt like it was never ending. But neither did I care for the narration. It wasn't particularly clear and needed to remain at a slow speed to follow with full attention. Thank you net galley and publisher for a copy to listen and review.

I really enjoyed this book. I'd never read The Jungle Book before and I enjoyed both the story and also the ambience of this audiobook.

So charming!

All the stories I remember my dad reading to me, such fond memories, and it all came back listening to Gildart Jackson's marvelous re-telling of Rudyard Kipling's timeless and magical stories.

If you're not familiar with the tales of Mowgli, Baloo, Shere Khan, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Nag, Nagaina, Kotick, Sea Catch, Billy the mule, and all the rest, The Fireside Reading series will be an excellent way to learn about them. And if these are old favorites, I highly recommend checking out this version!

Narrated by Gildart Jackson, produced by Dreamscape Media, and with videos directed by Melora Jackson, the Fireside Reading series feels like a throwback to a simpler time, one in which the imagination did the job of cameras, actors, and special effects. Jackson’s narrative skill keeps readers very much engaged in this story while also enticing them to seek out the rest of the completed works.

In this venue, The Jungle Book becomes dramatic and entertaining with a vintage feel reminiscent of the work of Vincent Price. I’ve already sought out other titles in the series, subscribed to the YouTube channel, and shared them with friends.
Thank you to the legacy of Rudyard Kipling (in all of its complexity, forcing conversations that make us strive to be more human), the Jacksons, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

People are familiar with the Jungle Book with Disney movie adaptations (and other adaptations). The original is Rudyard Kipling's classic, not only the main story of Mowgli, an Indian boy abandoned in the jungle and raised in an animal kingdom, but other vividly imagined stories with animals including a young white seal seeking a safe habitat, a mongoose and cobra story, and a story about elephant among others. Each story is vividly imagined and suitable for all ages. Although the book is over 100 years old, animal kingdom has changed little and it feels modern still. Gildart Jackson's narration is superb, expressive and absorbing - I truly enjoyed this audiobook and would recommend to others.

An advanced copy of this audiobook was provided courtesy of NetGalley and Dreamscape Audio in exchange with an honest review. Thank you so much for this opportunity!

Gildart Jackson narrates this Fireside Reading of Rudyard Kipling’s <i>The Jungle Book</i>. Once again, Gildart does a fabulous job intoning the various characters and building suspense in the right places for the stories. In addition to his narration, there is music at the beginning and end of each chapter fitting with the scenery for The Jungle Book. With each section of the audiobook being a chapter long, this could easily be listened to either in one prolonged sitting or a chapter per night as a bedtime story. I highly recommend listening to Jackson’s version of this book!

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

Thank you to the Publisher and to NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book.


I have listened to both of these Fireside books and I have really enjoyed them. The narrator is great and his voice is very soothing. I really enjoy listening to these books when I am going to bed to relax. I know there are a few more, and I would like to find them to listen to. I hope they do a lot more of these books.

The narrator did a good job. I’ve never listened to an audiobook that was recorded fireside for a more cozy reading experience. I loved it. He added music to the parts that were meant to be a song/poem so that you could distinguish between that and the story. I’ve never read the complete Jungle Book story so some of this was new to me. It really was a good story and audio book. I will say the seal story after Jungle Book ended was not for me though. The murder of the seals made me want to vomit.

This was such a wonderful way for the whole family to enjoy a classic. We loved the ambience, narration and especially the lovely story of a boy and his animal friends.

Oh this was so good. I absolutely love Gilbert Jackson fireside reading. I loved that he's coming out on CDs. Going to be an instant buy for sure!

This is a very charming reading of a one of my favorite classic books that is often overlooked in favor of the Disney interpretation. A fire crackling in the background provides a cozy feel that had me enraptured.

3.5 stars
I have always loved the Disney movie version of The Jungle Book, but I had never read the book. I really enjoyed the stories about Mowgli and friends, but I found the other stories a little less interesting. It was a little harder to concentrate on the books featuring the other characters.
It was so fun to picture the parts of the Mowgli stories that weren't in the movie because I already had the vision and the characters in my head.
This was a "fireside reading" version and there was a fire crackling sound behind the narration for a lot of the book which was really soothing and I also just loved the narrator's voice in general.
I'm really happy this was available from Netgalley because I don't think I would have ever gotten to this as a physical book!