Other editions of book Just So Stories

Just So Stories for Little Children is a 1902 collection of origin stories by the British author Rudyard Kipling. Considered a classic of children's literature, the book is among Kipling's best known works. Kipling began working on the book by telling the first three chapters as bedtime stories to his daughter Josephine. These had to be told "just so" (exactly in the words she was used to) or she would complain. The stories describe how one animal or another acquired its most distinctive features, such as how the Leopard got his spots. For the book, Kipling illustrated the stories himself. The stories have appeared in a variety of adaptations including a musical and animated films. Evolutionary biologists have noted that what Kipling did in fiction, they have done in reality, providing explanations for the evolutionary development of animal features.

One of the world's greatest storytellers weaves together an unforgettable collection of animal tales, including how the camel got its hump, how the leopard got its spots, and how even a butterfly stamping his leg can change a man's life. Initially written for his own "best beloved," Just So Stories was published in 1902. It has been a favorite for the past century and is certain to be cherished by generations to come.

Drawing from the oral storytelling traditions of India and Africa, Nobel Prize winner Rudyard Kipling's vigorous, amusing tales offer imaginative answers to unanswered questions about animals and provide little pearls of wisdom. Kipling began inventing these stories in his American wife's hometown of Brattleboro, Vermont, to amuse his eldest daughter. Over 100 years later, these classic tales, filled with playfully clever animals and people, are still entertaining children and adults alike. "How the Camel Got His Hump," "How the Leopard Got His Spots," and "How the Alphabet Was Made," are just three of the twelve enlightening short stories.

IN the sea, once upon a time, O my Best Beloved, there was a Whale, and he ate fishes. He ate the starfish and the garfish, and the crab and the dab, and the plaice and the dace, and the skate and his mate, and the mackereel and the pickereel, and the really truly twirly-whirly eel. All the fishes he could find in all the sea he ate with his mouth-so! Till at last there was only one small fish left in all the sea, and he was a small 'Stute Fish, and he swam a little behind the Whale's right ear, so as to be out of harm's way. Then the Whale stood up on his tail and said, 'I'm hungry.

Rudyard Kipling's famous book of short stories, Just So Stories. This wonderful classic includes the follow Rudyard Kipling stories: How The Whale Got His Throat How The Camel Got His Hump How The Rhinoceros Got His Skin How The Leopard Got His Spots The Elephant's Child The Sing-Song Of Old Man Kangaroo The Beginning Of The Armadillos How The First Letter Was Written How The Alphabet Was Made The Crab That Played With The Sea The Cat That Walked By Himself The Butterfly That Stamped Great for all ages! Enjoy Short Stories by Rudyard Kipling today!

The Just So Stories began as bedtime stories told to Effie , Kipling's firstborn. When the first three were published in a children’s magazine, a year before her death, Kipling explained: ...in the evening there were stories meant to put Effie to sleep, and you were not allowed to alter those by one single little word. They had to be told just so; or Effie would wake up and put back the missing sentence. So at last they came to be like charms, all three of them; the whale tale, the camel tale, and the rhinoceros tale.