Rudyard Kipling's brilliantly funny tale of How the Rhinoceros got his Skin has been perfectly captured by Daron Parton's quirky and colourful illustrations. Every page showcases delightful full-bled artwork, packed with charm and detail that will enthrall young children aged 3+. This paperback book has 24 pages and measures: 26 x 26 x 0.3cm
It was actually a video that I saw when subbing in a class of 1st graders. It is one of the fictional, short children's stories from Rudyard Kipling's book, Just So Stories. (Jack Nicholson was not the author, just the narrator in the video!) I looked up the author later when I got home and apparently he had written other stories about animals in that book, as well as other books. He was born to British parents in India, when it was a British colony. So he probably learned about many animals while living there. This story takes place in India. I also read that he named the overall book, Just So Stories, because when he told these stories to his daughter, Josephine, she would get mad if he didn't tell them "just so" in words that she would understand. There is also a picture book called How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin. The pictures in the video were based on this picture book version.
This origin story for children reads like a folk tale of people native to the region where the rhinoceros lives. Given his travels and innate curiosity and intelligence, it is possible that this story is an adaptation of one Kipling was exposed to while in Africa. The illustrations are sometimes in full color and in all cases are very detailed. The story is written at the level of the child in the middle of elementary school. It is easy to understand and amusing as a trick is played on the bad-mannered rhinoceros. There are also a few potential giggles if read with the proper voice inflection.
Although the Just So stories are aimed at children, it is wonderful to see another side of Kiplings work and writing style. It is a shame a lot of his Indian Tales were not written like this or in this style. I am very glad to have read a lot of these works to really build up a much bigger overview of the author himself.
I’ll be honest, I’ve never read anything else by Rudyard Kipling so I have nothing else to compare it to. This is cute, I admit, but not one of the best short stories I’ve read — perhaps Kipling’s others are more enticing. Either way, it was just average to me.
This review also refers to the audio cd version of this tale.
"How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin" is one of the "Just So stories" featured in the Rabbit Ears series and is probably one of Jack Nicholson's best performances yet! In this story, a rude rhinoceros gets what he deserves when he makes the Parsee Man angry after the rhinoceros eats his cake without his permission.
Jack Nicholson's narration is rich and sarcastic, especially during the scene where the Parsee Man gets his revenge on the rhinoceros and Jack Nicholson seems to be snickering at the entire ordeal. Tim Raglin's illustrations are beautiful and colorful, especially of the Parsee Man's hat being "radiant" in the sun's rays. Bobby McFerrin's music is creative and jazzy as he mainly produces sound from his mouth to make music. This book is certainly a joy for fans of the famous "Just So" stories.
The illustrations in this are so gorgeous -- I wish I had the entire series. I've never read Rudyard Kipling until now. I don't really know how to feel about the story -- it's funny, but I guess I also found it kind of worrisome, clenching in case it got offensive, wondering if it was already offensive. But I liked he language a lot; I didn't realize Rudyard Kipling was so much fun. There are plenty of old writers that stick around that aren't any fun at all -- Treasure Island is a really horribly boring book for instance.