Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
13 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 4 years ago - ★★★★ - 11 ratingsWritten originally for his own children, Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories have continued to delight generations of youngsters since they were first published in 1902. The thirteen stories collected in this book are meant for very young children, but they engage older kids and adults too with their charming conversational style and simple plot lines.
These stories are typical examples of the “origin” story, where children are provided with imaginative rather than practical explanations for the “why” “what” “how” “where” “who” “when” questions of childhood. The Just So Stories were tales that Kipling would tell his own daughter who tragically died in infancy of pneumonia.
An early forerunner of these stories can be found in The Second Jungle Book in the chapter, “How Fear Came” where the story of how the tiger got its stripes is narrated to Mowgli. All the fables in the Just So Stories follow a similar theme. They relate how a particular creature is altered from an original form into its present appearance either by a magical spirit or a human being. So the reader encounters wonderful and fantastical reasons why The Whale Got Its Throat, The Camel Got Its Hump, The Rhinoceros Got Its Skin, How the Alphabet was Made, and so on.
Written in a pretend grand style, as though the narrator was recounting a great and important myth, the stories are studded with fabulous made up words and turns of phrase that catch the reader's attention. Comic exaggeration, wordplay, lots of spontaneous, funny poems, juxtapositions of everyday events with the fantastical tales, amusing and entertaining “explanations” and a short poem at the beginning of each story serve to highlight Kipling's prodigious story telling talents.
The reader is always called “Best Beloved” which adds to the personal touch, reminding us of the original listeners of these stories, who were Kipling's own children. Some of the stories may seem politically incorrect to modern day readers, but they must be read in the context in which they were written and could in fact become a starting point for discussions on such issues as race, gender etc. with your own children.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
01 How the Whale got his Throat
January 02, 2024 00:00 - 9 minutes - 3.81 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
02 How the Camel got his Hump
January 01, 2024 00:00 - 9 minutes - 3.81 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
03 How the Rhinoceros got his Skin
December 31, 2023 00:00 - 8 minutes - 2.86 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
04 How the Leopard got his Spots
December 30, 2023 00:00 - 14 minutes - 6.68 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
05 The Elephant's Child
December 29, 2023 00:00 - 17 minutes - 7.63 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
06 The Sing-song of Old Man Kangaroo
December 28, 2023 00:00 - 10 minutes - 3.81 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
07 The Beginning of the Armadillos
December 27, 2023 00:00 - 18 minutes - 8.58 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
08 How the First Letter was Written
December 26, 2023 00:00 - 21 minutes - 9.54 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
09 How the Alphabet was Made
December 25, 2023 00:00 - 26 minutes - 11.4 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
10 The Crab that Played with the Sea
December 24, 2023 00:00 - 25 minutes - 11.4 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
11 The Cat who Walked by Himself
December 23, 2023 00:00 - 25 minutes - 11.4 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
13 The Butterfly that Stamped
December 21, 2023 00:00 - 23 minutes - 10.5 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com