Kipling provides a brief, colorful description of mongooses, comparing Rikki to a cat and a weasel, with a tail that he could “fluff up … like a bottle brush.” Introduce students to real mongooses beforehand to help them engage with Rikki and more fully appreciate Kipling’s vivid wit. Students may be interested to learn that mongooses are such efficient predators that when introduced to control vermin in Hawaii and the West Indies they threatened other species as well. After reading about mongooses, have students write their own descriptions to compare later with Kipling’s.
The setting of “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” is exotic for most students. Before reading, take them on a pretend trip to India, the world’s largest democracy and one of the largest countries overall in both area and population. India’s diversity of languages, religions and climates makes it easy to break the class into groups, each researching a particular aspect of Indian culture. Consider hosting an "India Day" party, complete with food and music. Add a time machine to your class’ travel plans, and explore how and why India became an English colony and what it meant for Indians. Students will be better prepared to appreciate the historical and cultural context of the story.
A series of heroic conflicts dominates the plot of “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,” climaxing with Rikki’s dangerous descent into the cobras’ lair after Nagaina. Before reading, have students explore the themes of bravery and risk with thoughtful questions such as, “When was the last time you felt scared? What did you do? When did you feel brave? Why?” Students also can define abstract concepts, such as loyalty and courage, and list characters from books or movies who embody those traits. Exercises like these will provide a framework for analyzing Rikki as a character.
In addition to mongoose, Kipling uses a number of words that may be unfamiliar to elementary-school or even middle-school readers. Prepare a list beforehand for students to read so they will not stumble over this vocabulary while reading the story. Possible terms for pre-reading include veranda, bloodhound, tuft, cobra and bantam. Have students come up with synonyms and use the terms in their own sentences to more fully master their meanings.