How the Camel Got His Hump

The playful tale is among the best known of Rudyard Kipling's "Just So" stories. In it, pride and arrogance prove to be the downfall of a lazy camel. Never has there been a more satisfying rendering of Kipling's most beloved "Just So" story, which explains what the world was like "in the beginning of years when the world was new and all..."

Kindergarten-Grade 4-- Each book/cassette kit presents the original story in its entirety. How the Camel Got His Hump is narrated by Jack Nicholson, whose gravely voice perfectly captures Kipling's dry wit. One major problem with this recording is the abundance of long musical interludes that interfer with the smooth reading of the story. The colored-pencil illustrations are similar to Quentin Blake's marvelous line and wash cartoons for How the Camel Got His Hump (Bedrick, 1985), but are in a more polished format. Raglin's cartoonlike characters have expressive faces, and he utilizes the desert colors effectively. The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher is narrated by Meryl Streep. Although the music tends to overwhelm the narrator, and occasionally Streep's acting gets in the way of the words, this is a quality recording that follows the text exactly. The colored-pencil illustrations have a wonderful texture and are excuted in appropriately watery blues, greens, and yellows. For those who aren't Potter purists, these illustrations are quite engaging and much larger in scale, so they can be used in a group reading. There are many wonderful editions of both of these stories available, but these will be popular in any children's collection. --Karen K. Radtke, Milwaukee Public Library
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