Product Description

In this sumptuous volume, eight of Kipling's playful, inventive tales are brought to life by eight of today's most celebrated illustrators, from Peter Sis's elegantly graphic cetacean in "How the Whale Got His Throat" to Satoshi Kitamura's amusingly expressive characters in "The Cat That Walked by Himself." This collection of pourquoi tales is sure to please and delight curious children everywhere who wonder, "Why won't cats come when they're called?" and "How did the rhinoceros get his wrinkly skin?" First told aloud to his own daughter, Rudyard Kipling's inspired answers to these and other burning questions draw from the fables he heard as a child in India and the folktales he gathered from around the world.

"How the Whale Got His Throat"

Illustrated by Peter Sis

"How the Camel Got His Hump"

Illustrated by Clare Melinsky

"How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin"

Illustrated by Christopher Corr

"How the Leopard Got His Spots"

Illustrated by Cathy Felstead

"The Elephant's Child"

Illustrated by Louise Voce

"The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo"

Illustrated by Jeff Fisher

"The Beginning of the Armadillos"

Illustrated by Jane Ray

"The Cat That Walked by Himself"

Illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #114561 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-07
• Released on: 2004-10-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 128 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-6–Eight well-known tales serve as a showcase for a variety of illustrators. Peter Sís's familiar dots and a watery blue and brown palette illustrate "How the Whale Got His Throat," while Christopher Corr uses bright colors against a hot yellow background to set the scene for "How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin." Other artists use collage, watercolors, and woodcuts to illustrate a story; some styles evoke ethnic art, while others are more cartoonlike. Barry Moser's watercolor illustrations offer a more unified vision for Just So Stories, a slightly different set of Kipling's famous tales (Morrow, 1996). While picture-book treatments of a single story are available, libraries in need of a collection can consider this a supplemental purchase.–Susan Hepler, Burgundy Farm Country Day School, Alexandria, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 3-6, younger for reading aloud. There are many fine editions of Kipling's perennially popular fables still in print, but this colorful collection of eight tales distinguishes itself with its range of artwork. Well-known children's book artists, including Peter Sis, Jane Ray, and Satoshi Kitamura, contributed the art, each one illustrating a different story. The vibrant mix of styles and materials adds new dimension to favorite stories, while the text remains close to Kipling's original, down to the delicious refrain, "O my Best Beloved." A lively, accessible edition that teachers will want to use with classroom units on pourquoi tales. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was born to British expatriates and lived in India for many years. The time he spent there as a child and later as a newspaper reporter and editor greatly influenced his writing, including such well-known works as Kim, The Jungle Book, and Just So Stories. Kipling traveled the world, living in Vermont for several years, before settling in Sussex, England. In 1907, he became the first Englishman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Customer Reviews

My children LOVE this book!
I cannot speak highly enough about this wonderful book. It is meant to be read just as it is written and I started reading it to my twin boys when they were 4 years old. Immersing them in such beautiful language is such a gift. They never get tired of hearing the same stories over and over, especially "The Elephant's Child" with his satiable curtiosity! I particularly like this edition of it, because the illustrations are vibrant and interesting, without the book costing a fortune. Each story is very creative and I don't find it offensive at all. It was written in 1900, for crying out loud, and those kids turned out just fine, if you ask me. When your child gets to the stage where they never stop asking questions, you will especially enjoy the accompanying poem at the end of Elephant's Child. This is an absolute must have in any home library. When you read it, just make sure you use your funny voices to make the characters come alive.

Family Readaloud Material
When I married, Mother gave me our family copy of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories which had scribbles in it from more than one of my five siblings. I don't remember reading it as a child, to be honest, but it was there. When our first two children were old enough to sit still for a story, my husband sat them in his lap and read them "The Elephant's Child" from this volume. After they squirmed a bit, he assigned acting parts to one or the other of them at various times, and by the time the third son came along they were fighting over acting parts. With voice inflection and movement to accompany the reading, they understood this story more and more, and they began to beg for more story time. He added first one and then another of the stories in this classic. Now our second son and his wife have had their first child, and for his first Christmas as a parent we were delighted to give him him own copy, and the two new parents are continuing the tradition. Bravo, Rudyard Kipling, and bravo, Daddy

My son loved this book
I don't understand the other comment about not being appropriate for children because my son loved it! A friend gave me this book when my son was 3 years old. I went through it first, to see what the stories were like, before reading any to him. He was used to all the Disney stories up until then, but really liked the stories in this book. This was back in 1989 and 1990. His favorite was "How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin." Unfortunately, I sold the book when I moved so now have to buy a new copy that I will give to a friend having a baby. My son still remembers this book and how much fun it was to listen to the stories.