How The Just So Stories Were Made

A fascinating, richly illustrated exploration of the poignant origins of Rudyard Kipling’s world-famous children’s classic From "How the Leopard Got Its Spots" to "The Elephant’s Child," Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories have delighted readers across the world for more than a century. In this original study, John Batchelor explores the artistry with which Kipling created the Just So Stories, using each tale as an entry point into the writer’s life and work—including the tragedy that shadows much of the volume, the death of his daughter Josephine. Batchelor details the playful challenges the stories made to contemporary society. In his stories Kipling played with biblical and other stories of creation and imagined fantastical tales of animals' development and man's discovery of literacy. Richly illustrated with original drawings and family photographs, this account reveals Kipling’s public and private lives—and sheds new light on a much-loved and tremendously influential classic.

Relates how the leopard got his spotted coat in order to hunt the animals in the dappled shadows of the forest.

The untold story of the greatest library of the Renaissance and its creator Hernando Colón This engaging book offers the first comprehensive account of the extraordinary projects of Hernando Colón, son of Christopher Columbus, which culminated in the creation of the greatest library of the Renaissance, with ambitions to be universal––that is, to bring together copies of every book, on every subject and in every language. Pérez Fernández and Wilson-Lee situate Hernando’s projects within the rapidly changing landscape of early modern knowledge, providing a concise history of the collection of information and the origins of public libraries, examining the challenges he faced and the solutions he devised. The two authors combine “meticulous research with deep and original thought,” shedding light on the history of libraries and the organization of knowledge. The result is an essential reference text for scholars of the early modern period, and for anyone interested in the expansion and dissemination of information and knowledge.

Delightfully retold in humorous rhyming verse, with stunning illustrations throughout, this is a beautiful reworked edition of Rudyard Kipling's children's classic, Just So Stories. In this highly illustrated collection meet the cat who walked by himself, discover how the lazy camel got his hump, how the elephant got his long trunk, find out why the rhino has such wrinkly skin, and how the whale got his teeny tiny throat. These well known, richly imagined stories tell of how the world came to be as it is. This is a smart, funny and younger approach to Kipling's work, as you've never seen before. Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories are one of the enduring classics of children's literature and these witty, inventive tales have delighted generations of children. Combining the brilliant rhyming talent of Elli Woollard and beautiful illustrations from the award-winning Marta Altés, this is an enchanting retelling of a much-loved classic for a new generation. A book to truly treasure and one you will want to share. Stories include: How the Whale got his Throat, How the Camel got his Hump, How the Rhinoceros got his Skin, The Elephant's Child, and The Cat that Walked by Himself.

Rare edition with unique illustrations. Kipling wrote some of the best animal stories for children, including his Jungle Books and Just So stories. His language is rich, inventive, and sonorous. He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story; his children's books are classics of children's literature. Originally collected in Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories in 1902, The Cat that Walked by Himself is one of the best-loved cat tales ever written. It is a story of the beginning of domesticated life: Man meets Woman and they move into a cave and set up the first household. Dog, Horse, and Cow come out of the Wild Woods and become tame. But Cat refuses, "I am not a friend and I am not a servant. I am the Cat who walks by himself and all places are alike to me." Woman makes a bargain with Cat to allow him to come into the cave and sit by the fire and drink milk. But when night comes, he is once again the Cat that walks by himself.

A fascinating, richly illustrated exploration of the poignant origins of Rudyard Kipling's world-famous children's classic From "How the Leopard Got Its Spots" to "The Elephant's Child," Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories have delighted readers across the world for more than a century. In this original study, John Batchelor explores the artistry with which Kipling created the Just So Stories, using each tale as an entry point into the writer's life and work--including the tragedy that shadows much of the volume, the death of his daughter Josephine. Batchelor details the playful challenges the stories made to contemporary society. In his stories Kipling played with biblical and other stories of creation and imagined fantastical tales of animals' development and man's discovery of literacy. Richly illustrated with original drawings and family photographs, this account reveals Kipling's public and private lives--and sheds new light on a much-loved and tremendously influential classic.

This is Rudyard Kipling's 1902 children's book, "Just So Stories for Little Children". It is a delightful and timeless collection of children's stories that makes for perfect bedtime reading. The stories are primarily animal-based, and constitute some of Kipling's best-known works. They include: "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", and many more. Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936) was an English poet, novelist, and short-story writer. Many vintage texts such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now, in an affordable, high-quality, modern edition. It comes complete with a specially commissioned biography of the author.

Twelve tales concerning the peculiarities of several jungle animals.

The Jungle Book, one of the most famous children’s books today, buoyed by multiple Disney film adaptations, is now available in an unabridged paperback edition including Rudyard Kipling’s fantastical short story collection Just So Stories. This Children’s Signature Classics edition will include both The Jungle Book and Just So Stories, a that whimsically explores animals’ origins, like how the zebra got its stripes. The Jungle Book’s story of survival, belonging, and growing up is perfect for young readers’ libraries.

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.The stories, first published in 1902, are origin stories, fantastic accounts of how various features of animals came to be. A forerunner of these stories is Kipling's "How Fear Came", in The Second Jungle Book (1895). In it, Mowgli hears the story of how the tiger got his stripes.The Just So Stories each tell how a particular animal was modified from an original form to its current form by the acts of man, or some magical being. For example, the Whale has a tiny throat because he swallowed a mariner, who tied a raft inside to block the whale from swallowing other men. The Camel has a hump given to him by a djinn as punishment for the camel's refusing to work (the hump allows the camel to work longer between times of eating). The Leopard's spots were painted by an Ethiopian (after the Ethiopian painted himself black). The Kangaroo gets its powerful hind legs, long tail, and hopping gait after being chased all day by a dingo, sent by a minor god responding to the Kangaroo's request to be made different from all other animals.The Just So Stories began as bedtime stories told to his daughter "Effie" [Josephine, 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