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Tarzan, King of Apes
A baby boy, left alone in the African jungle after the deaths of his parents, Lord and Lady Greystoke, is adopted by an ape, whose own infant has died, and raised to manhood without ever seeing another human being.
- GenresAdventure
104 pages, Hardcover
First published October 12, 1983
8 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Rice Burroughs
2,817 books2,735 followersEdgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 24, 2016
I read this book, one of my dad's favorites, to my kids - 3rd, 6th, and 9th grades. We read the first part of this book about how Tarzan came to the jungle, and then went to "Jungle Tales of Tarzan" (book 6, about his boyhood), and then returned to this book to read about his adult life and meeting Jane. That kept the story in chronological order.
I thought the kids would be interested in learning about how Tarzan came to live in the jungle and about his boyhood. I didn't really expect them to be interested in the romance with Jane, but they were. One kid likes the Disney cartoon movie better, and two like the book better.
Violence is more of an issue in the books than in the Disney movie, although it is generally either to hunt for food or else to escape a predator. Tarzan does have an animosity for the tribe that killed his adoptive ape parent. One child complained that the killing of animals got to be repetitive, but actually, I skipped some of the violence and some of the leaning towards racism as I read to them. I wouldn't have minded discussing these things with the older children, but the 3rd grader seemed a bit young. As one of the other reviewers pointed out, Tarzan does learn that individuals within a race can act differently from each other and actually explains that himself about lions to the men who dare him to hunt one.
Even the child that preferred the movie enjoyed some of the humor in Tarzan, and the child who said that the ending would be "obvious" was surprised by the plot twist. One child said that Tarzan learned he wasn't as smart as he thought he was, that he should've been able to think out a better solution to his problem with Jane. One child said that the purpose of the book was to show that people were superior to apes. I think they were all taken by surprise by the ending, because they're used to happily-ever-after endings. The middle child notes that it has an evolution worldview.
My favorite part of the whole series is how Kala adopted the human baby, but I thought it was funny, too, when Esmerelda fainted with her head in the cupboard. My oldest child thought lion attacks were over-done in this book, but really, if they were in a jungle, lions would've been hungry and attracted to the helpless.
I thought the kids would be interested in learning about how Tarzan came to live in the jungle and about his boyhood. I didn't really expect them to be interested in the romance with Jane, but they were. One kid likes the Disney cartoon movie better, and two like the book better.
Violence is more of an issue in the books than in the Disney movie, although it is generally either to hunt for food or else to escape a predator. Tarzan does have an animosity for the tribe that killed his adoptive ape parent. One child complained that the killing of animals got to be repetitive, but actually, I skipped some of the violence and some of the leaning towards racism as I read to them. I wouldn't have minded discussing these things with the older children, but the 3rd grader seemed a bit young. As one of the other reviewers pointed out, Tarzan does learn that individuals within a race can act differently from each other and actually explains that himself about lions to the men who dare him to hunt one.
Even the child that preferred the movie enjoyed some of the humor in Tarzan, and the child who said that the ending would be "obvious" was surprised by the plot twist. One child said that Tarzan learned he wasn't as smart as he thought he was, that he should've been able to think out a better solution to his problem with Jane. One child said that the purpose of the book was to show that people were superior to apes. I think they were all taken by surprise by the ending, because they're used to happily-ever-after endings. The middle child notes that it has an evolution worldview.
My favorite part of the whole series is how Kala adopted the human baby, but I thought it was funny, too, when Esmerelda fainted with her head in the cupboard. My oldest child thought lion attacks were over-done in this book, but really, if they were in a jungle, lions would've been hungry and attracted to the helpless.
Displaying 1 of 1 review