I have only a vague recollection of reading anything by Rudyard Kipling. Perhaps I have, but perhaps I haven’t. I know I’ve seen The Jungle Book, but I can’t really remember it. I just have a vague feeling that it was fun and good. And so I thought Just So Stories would be. I was wrong.
The first seven stories I generally liked. The language is wonderful, though the stories are trite. Read them out loud. If not to someone else, to yourself. These are all stories of anthropomorphized animals before they became the animals they are today: How the Whale Got His Throat
, How the Camel Got His Hump
, How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin
(this story I remember from somewhere!), How the Leopard Got His Spots
, The Elephant’s Child
, The Sing-song of Old Man Kangaroo
, and The Beginning of the Armadillos
. Decent stuff.
But the rest of the stories I did not like. They centered more around people, and I felt they weren’t much fun. How the First Letter Was Written
, How the Alphabet Was Made
(particularly bad), The Crab That Played With The Sea
, The Tabu Tale
, and The Butterfly That Stamped
. They almost felt more like lecturing to me, rather than entertainment. Children behave! Bah!
Title: Just so stories
Author: Rudyard Kipling
Cover artist: Carlos Sansegundo
Imprint / publisher: Camelot / Avon / Hearst
Format: Mass market paperback
Length: 173 p.
Publication date: 1966
Subject: Animals — Fiction
