Just So Stories

How did the camel get his hump, the leopard his spots, the whale his throat and the elephant his trunk? Kipling answers in stories invented for his daughter, who wanted them told 'just so', in exactly the same words every time. They are full of nonsense words, repetitions and asides to 'O Best Beloved', the child listening.

Published in 1902 with Kipling's own illustrations, the Just So Stories are made to be read aloud, and they remain among the most delightful children's books in English. 'The Cat That Walked by Himself' is a favourite. For Kipling's longer animal tales, read The Jungle Book.

Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) was born in Bombay, sent to England at five to an unhappy foster home, and returned to India at sixteen to work as a journalist in Lahore. His stories of Anglo-Indian life made him famous in London in his twenties.

The Jungle Book, written in Vermont, Kim and Just So Stories became classics, and in 1907 he became the first English-language writer to win the Nobel Prize. His poem 'If—' is still widely quoted, though his support for empire makes him a controversial figure today. His only son was killed in the First World War.