Following the 1912 publication of his wildly successful Tarzan of the Apes, Edgar Rice Burroughs authored four bestselling sequels in quick succession. In 1916, he decided to go back and recount selected adventures from Tarzan's teenage years. The result was Jungle Tales of Tarzan, a dozen short stories bearing such titles as "Tarzan's First Love" and "Tarzan Rescues the Moon" and which chronicle the events preceding the youthful hero's ascension to "King of the Jungle."

The adolescent phase of the character is the primary focus of this detailed analysis. The context, themes, motifs, and stylistic techniques of Jungle Tales of Tarzan are all fully explored, as well as the property's literary antecedents and its links to the various comic book and film adaptations of Edgar Rice Burroughs' most celebrated and enduring creation.