Customer Reviews

A Collection of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book a couple of years ago. It wasn't until recently, when I was leafing through a very old copy that I found on my shelves that I realized that this book does not contain the following stories that were in the original: How the First Letter was Written; How the Alphabet was Made; The Crab that Played with the Sea; and the Butterfly that Stamped.

In particular, the Crab and the Butterfly are two of the finest Just so Stories and should not be missed. I certainly would not have bought this book had I known it was an abridged version. I suppose that's why the publishers have cleverly entitled this book a "collection". What's an added disappointment is that there is no indication or explanation anywhere in this book regarding the excluded stories--though I can guess at the reasons.

If I were buying, I'd look for a complete edition.

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.

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

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.

Still excellent as a reading time project. Both my son and daughter love the stories as much as I did as a child.

This book includes:

How the Whale got his Throat

How the Camel got his Hump

How the Rhinoceros got his Skin

How the Leopard got his Spots

The Elephant's Child (male elephant)

The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo

The Beginning of the Armadillos

The Cat that Walked by Himself

(plus all the original poems that follow the stories)

As near as I can tell, this book keeps the exact wording in the Rudyard Kipling stories (Best Beloved, 'Scruciating, 'Sclusively...)

This book is excellent for reading out loud, and the illustrations (each story by a different illustrator) are attention-getting. Share this book with your children - the stories of trickery and consequencesare great teaching tools.

Our family has loved this book, the stories are, of course, wonderful - fun for parents to read and fun for kids to listen to. With at least one illustration per page and lots of full page illustrations, the pictures help keep our 3 year old's interest. And you wouldn't believe the vocabulary words a 3 year old can learn from great stories like these!

The collection of stories on how the world began is so good, that I bought three. One for my youngest child and one for each daughter to read to their children.

The rhythm of reading the stories aloud is wonderful, I even read one of the stories in my college speech class and when I looked up everyone was sitting there opened mouthed. My son is now twelve and he still loves reading these wonderful tales by Rudyard Kipling. Classic!

As these stories were written in another era they may not seem PC by today's standards. However, some of them are amusing and can be retold with subtle editing if necessary.

I had the impression the stories would be good to read to a child, they weren't.