Just So Stories For Little Children

A dozen imaginative fables by one of the world's great storytellers propose whimsical explanations of how certain animals acquired their distinctive physical characteristics: How the Camel Got His Hump, How the Whale Got His Throat, How the Leopard Got His Spots, How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin, The Elephant's Child, and seven others.

How did the camel get his hump? Why won't cats do as they are told? Who invented reading and writing? How did an inquisitive little elephant change the lives of elephants everywhere? Kipling's imagined answers to such questions draw on the beast fables he heard as a child in India, as well as on folk games with language, exploring the relationships between thought, speech, and the written word. He also celebrates his own joy in fatherhood. The tales were told to his own and his friends' children over many years before he wrote them down, adding poems and his own illustrations. They invite older and younger readers to share a magical experience, each contributing to the other's pleasure, but each can also enjoy them alone, as more jokes, subtexts, and exotic references emerge with every reading. This fully illustrated edition includes two extra stories and Kipling's own explanation of the title.