Real-life Mowgli Do you remember The Jungle Book and the famous story about a boy who was raised by wolves in the jungle? The boy and the jungle animals - wolves, a bear, a black panther and a large python - managed to understand each other, and helped and defended each other. When grown up, Mowgli went back to live happily with people. This story, written by Rudyard Kipling, is beautiful but unrealistic. It came from the writer’s imagination. True, stories about children who are raised by animals really happen. However, these stories cannot be considered happy ones. If a child communicates with animals and is isolated from people, it affects his brain development, his speech and communication skills, which can never be fully restored.
However, Mowgli's message about people and animals living in harmony - “We are of the same blood - you and I!” - was delivered to civilized society by another child. The story of Tippi Degré is a real and a happy one. As a child, she communicated with wild animals easily and amazingly well, but she had never been lost in the jungle. She had her parents’ love and care, books and educational toys. She spoke French as her mother tongue and English as a foreign language and, as a bonus, she had the most unusual childhood, full of adventures and fantastic experiences.
Tippi Degré was born in Africa to a family of French wildlife photographers and filmmakers, Alain and Sylvie. Because of her parents’ job Tippi did not grow up in her own counrty but rather in the African desert. She spent the first ten years of her life in Namibia living close to tribespeople and, of course, to the animals.
There were no other kids nearby and she played with the animals. From her very early childhood Tippi had no fear of animals. Later she said that she spoke with them with her mind, or through her eyes and that they understood each other. She was on the same wavelength as them. Her best friend was the huge African elephant Abu. Unlike European kids of her age, Tippi didn’t dream of getting a hamster or a kitten for her birthday and she didn’t go to the zoo. Instead, she played with lion cubs and baby zebras, with leopards and cheetahs and she even believed that an African snake was her friend.
Tippi’s parents took lots of photographs of their daughter playing with different animals, riding an ostrich or climbing the trees with monkeys. These photos were published in the most famous wildlife journals, which made Tippi a world celebrity. Several books and documentary films about Tippi and her family’s adventurous lifestyle were made and became hits.
At the age of ten, Tippi went to school in France but she could not forget her African life and revisited the places she had known before. After school she studied cinematography at the university in Paris. Now she is in her twenties and she lives in Paris. However, her love for animals will last forever and she does a lot to promote the idea that humans and animals are of the same blood.
1. The Hardy Boys mystery stories lead to the creation of The Nancy Drew Stories. 1) True 2) False 3) Not stated 2. Frank Dixon and Carol Keen were the writers’ real names. 1) True 2) False 3) Not stated 3. Ghost-writers are paid less than ordinary authors. 1) True 2) False 3) Not stated 4. Edward Stratemeyer played a part in making The Hardy Boys and The Nancy Drew Stories. 1) True 2) False 3) Not stated 5. Ghost-writers and Edward Stratemeyer often argued about the plots of the stories. 1) True 2) False 3) Not stated 6. Most children enjoyed reading The Hardy Boys and The Nancy Drew Stories. 1) True 2) False 3) Not stated 7. The literary critics had a very high opinion of The Hardy Boys and The Nancy Drew Stories. 1) True 2) False 3) Not stated 8. The libraries’ rejection to have The Hardy Boys and The Nancy Drew Stories on their shelves increased the sales of the books. 1) True 2) False 3) Not stated _________/16/ | 
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