Just So Stories
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Following the initial success of The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling published the collection of parables Just So Stories. He first entertained his own children with these delightful and humorous tales before deciding to write them down for publication. The stories are written in the form of what came to be also known as pourqoui (French for "why”) stories, each explaining how and why things came to be as they are.
Following the initial success of The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling published the collection of parables Just So Stories. He first entertained his own children with these delightful and humorous tales before deciding to write them down for publication. The stories are written in the form of what came to be also known as pourqoui (French for “why”) stories, each explaining how and why things came to be as they are.
From “How the Camel Got His Hump” to the classic “How the Whale Got His Throat,” Kipling masterfully tells these origin stories, describing how each of these animals developed their distinct characteristics. This classic collection also includes stories featuring other subjects such as the beginnings of the alphabet and the first letter. Kipling spins anecdotes which envisioned intriguing animals and exotic jungles that still resonate with readers today.
This volume also features thirteen full-color illustrations and more than thirty black-and-white illustrations by J. M. Gleeson and Paul Bransom, as well as several images created by Kipling himself. With their entertaining characters and well-executed narrative arcs, these tales are perfect for readers both young and old to read separately and, more importantly, together.
About The Author
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He was born in India, which inspired much of his work.
Kipling’s works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and many short stories, including “The Man Who Would Be King” (1888). His poems include “Mandalay” (1890), “Gunga Din” (1890), “The Gods of the Copybook Headings” (1919), “The White Man’s Burden” (1899), and “If—” (1910). He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story; his children’s books are classics of children’s literature, and one critic described his work as exhibiting “a versatile and luminous narrative gift”.
Reviews
“This is a beautiful copy of Just So Stories. As others have mentioned, it is a small volume but the cover is embossed and the pages are gilded. The paper is thin–not due to cheapness but rather it is fine paper. It contains the original illustrations and their captions, and it is just lovely.”
