Just So Stories, Volume II

by Rudyard Kipling, Ian Wallace (Illustrations)

Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories is one of the best-loved story collections ever written for children. In this companion to Volume I, published in fall 2013, acclaimed children’s book illustrator Ian Wallace once again reinterprets the famous tales with luminous art, bringing Kipling to a new generation of young readers. Many of the tales are origin stories, explaining, for example, how an animal came to be, or the how the alphabet and writing began. They all display Kipling’s vivid imagination, inventive vocabulary and engaging word play. And once again Ian Wallace makes intriguing connections between the stories in his richly imagined illustrations. The second volume, as visually breathtaking as the first, includes “The Beginning of the Armadilloes,” “How the First Letter Was Written,” “How the Alphabet Was Made,” The Crab That Played with the Sea,” “The Cat That Walked by Himself” and “The Butterfly That Stamped.” The first edition of Just So Stories was published in Great Britain in 1902, along with black-and-white illustrations by Kipling himself. The stories have remained in print ever since, delighting young readers in many countries. This new edition, published more than 110 years after the original, has been edited to remove a few references now understood to be offensive. Inspired by these remarkable stories and the fact that they are set all over the world, Ian Wallace has chosen to make an annual donation to the International Board on Books for Young People’s Fund for Children in Crisis (www.ibby.org).

Genres: Short Stories, Childrens

88 pages, Hardcover

First published April 8, 2014

About the author

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was a journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist.

Kipling's works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and many short stories, including The Man Who Would Be King (1888). His poems include Mandalay (1890), Gunga Din (1890), The Gods of the Copybook Headings (1919), The White Man's Burden (1899), and If— (1910). He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story; his children's books are classics of children's literature; and one critic described his work as exhibiting "a versatile and luminous narrative gift".

Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the United Kingdom, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Henry James said: "Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius (as distinct from fine intelligence) that I have ever known." In 1907, at the age of 41, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English-language writer to receive the prize, and its youngest recipient to date. He was also sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and on several occasions for a knighthood, both of which he declined.

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907 "in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author."

Kipling kept writing until the early 1930s, but at a slower pace and with much less success than before. On the night of 12 January 1936, Kipling suffered a haemorrhage in his small intestine. He underwent surgery, but died less than a week later on 18 January 1936 at the age of 70 of a perforated duodenal ulcer. Kipling's death had in fact previously been incorrectly announced in a magazine, to which he wrote, "I've just read that I am dead. Don't forget to delete me from your list of subscribers."

Reviews

[Kelly R.]

I really love the illustrations in these editions!

[Michelle L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as fun as volume 1.

[Om · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked how the stories were in a past time when everything was just born. But it could be longer.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rudyard Kipling was an English writer who was born in Bombay. He was known primarily for his short stories, which made him famous in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In fact, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907, when he was only 42. He is still the youngest winner to this day. His most famous work was The Jungle Book, which though many have not read, recognize from Disney's adaptation of it. Today, I am reviewing my favorite Kipling work, his Just So Stories. Groundwood Books produced these books in two beautifully illustrated volumes.


Just So Stories, Volume 1 is an 87 page hardcover with illustrations by Ian Wallace. The stories included in this volume are as follows:

1. How the Whale Got His Throat
2. How the Camel Got His Hump
3. How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin
4. How the Leopard Got His Spots
5. The Elephant's Child
6. The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo


Just So Stories, Volume 2 is at thicker 139 page hardcover also illustrated by Ian Wallace. The stories included in this volume are as follows:

1. The Beginning of the Armadilloes
2. How the First Letter Was Written
3. How the Alphabet Was Made
4. The Crab The Played with the Sea
5. The Cat That Walked by Himself
6. The Butterfly That Stamped

Missing from this collection is The Tabu Tale, which to be fair, is omitted from most British versions. Unlike most of Kipling's works which smack of a very pro-empire view of Britain, these stories are written for children, more specifically Kipling's niece. However, I believe children come in all ages, so even those children in their twenties and thirties will be amused and enlightened by these tales as well. For example, did you know that a whale can only eat small fish, because a whale once swallowed a boy, and that boy built a gate in the whale's throat to prevent it from swallowing big fish and people? Or did you know that a rhinoceros is irritable and has folds in his skin because he got cake crumbs in his skin and as much as he scratched, all he could accomplish was stretching his skin out but not getting rid of the crumbs?

The stories that deal with animals are easily the most enjoyable for me and my family, but the ones involving the alphabet proved to be interesting. What really makes these stories though, is the illustrations! The pictures are gorgeous and plentiful! It's always disappointing when children's books don't have many pictures, but they occur in these volumes, about every third page. Most take up the whole page as well, so you and your little ones don't have to squint when reading together. Though these stories are well over 100 years old, they still stand the test of time. So, I encourage you to read them to your kids. If you have adult kids, read them to your grandkids. Make it a family affair, and keep these beautiful stories alive for future generations.