The stories, first published in 1902, are fantastic accounts of how various natural phenomena came about. The original editions of Just So Stories were illustrated with woodcuts by Kipling himself. Each story is accompanied by a poem, in a somewhat ballad style. Many of the stories are addressed to “Best Beloved” (they were first written for Kipling’s eldest daughter, Josephine, who had died during an outbreak of influenza in 1899), and throughout they use a comically elevated style inspired by the formal speech of India, full of long and improbable-sounding words, some of them made up. As a result, it is a delight to read them aloud, and easy to memorize passages from them. they have been recorded several times before but I wanted to enjoy rolling those wonderful words around myself. What fun!

Latest episodes of the podcast Just So Stories (version 5) by Rudyard Kipling

• 01 - HOW THE WHALE GOT HIS THROAT
• 02 - HOW THE CAMEL GOT HIS HUMP
• 03 - HOW THE RHINOCEROS GOT HIS SKIN
• 04 - HOW THE LEOPARD GOT HIS SPOTS
• 05 - THE ELEPHANT'S CHILD
• 06 - THE SING-SONG OF OLD MAN KANGAROO
• 07 - THE BEGINNING OF THE ARMADILLOS
• 08 - HOW THE FIRST LETTER WAS WRITTEN
• 09 - HOW THE ALPHABET WAS MADE
• 10 - THE CRAB THAT PLAYED WITH THE SEA
• 11 - THE CAT THAT WALKED BY HIMSELF
• 12 - THE BUTTERFLY THAT STAMPED