Just So Stories ANNOTATION
A collection of the well-known stories including "The Butterfly that Stamped," "How the Whale Got his Throat," and "The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo."
FROM THE PUBLISHER
How did the camel get his hump? Why won't cats do as they are told? Who invented reading and writing? How did an inquisitive little elephant change the lives of elephants everywhere? Kipling's imagined answers to such questions draw on the beast fables he heard as a child in India, as well as on folk games with language, exploring the relationships between thought, speech, and the written word. He also celebrates his own joy in fatherhood. The tales were told to his own and his friends' children over many years before he wrote them down, adding poems and his own illustrations. They invite older and younger readers to share a magical experience, each contributing to the other's pleasure, but each can also enjoy them alone, as more jokes, subtexts, and exotic references emerge with every reading. This fully illustrated edition includes two extra stories and Kipling's own explanation of the title.
FROM THE CRITICS
Children's Literature - Kathleen Karr
I spent an enjoyable evening rereading Kipling's marvelous creation stories. His hungry whale and imperious butterfly came to life again, while "How the First Letter Was Written" and "How the Alphabet Was Made" reiterated the joys of discovery. Barry Moser's illustrations are very fine, with just the right touch of humor and slyness-particularly his disdainfully "humphing" camel. The only thing missing was an eager audience. These stories cry out to be read aloud, as Kipling himself once did for his own children.
Children's Literature - Deborah Zink Roffino
Kipling loved the pourquoi tale and conjured up all sorts of preposterous explanations for the whims of nature. This is not a retelling, but a volume of Kipling's stories-classic because children and adults can appreciate them in their original and delightful language. These are his simple, reasonable interpretations of how the leopard got his spots, how armadillos came to be and how the camel got his hump. Pourquoi tales can qualify as fables if there is a lesson to be learned and a moral to the story. All Kipling's tales are laced with bits of Indian culture and studies of human behavior told with his genius for energetic, rhythmic language. The dynamic woodcuts, full of bright contrasts, decorate each tale.
School Library Journal
Gr 3-6 Of all of the many past illustrators of Kipling's stories, only Kipling himself, in the first edition (Doubleday, 1902; o.p.), captured the Oriental tone of these stories. This ``more-than-oriental-splendour'' comes through in Salter's attractive edition. She has done a full-color, full-page illustration for each of the 12 stories, along with decorations for each title page. The illustrations are bold and stylized with a strong use of color, all set within richly patterned borders. They have a strong sense of Indian folk art, particularly in the gold, browns, wines, blues, and blacks that she uses. These are the sort of illustrations that draw readers in to study each detail. They form the framework for an attractive, well-laid-out format. This newest Just So Stories should serve as a fine introduction for another generation of Best Beloveds to this standard children's classic. Kay McPherson, Central Atlanta-Fulton Public Library
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