Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Just So Stories
Book Review: A Humorous Look at How Strengths Emerge from Weaknesses!
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me make it clear that I am reviewing the Signet Classics version of Just So Stories. The reason I say that is because the original versions of these stories contain material that would be offensive to most people today, but the worst of that has been removed from this edition. The other advantage of this version is that it contains Kipling's own illustrations and his captions for those illustrations. Finally, this version is also very inexpensive. These stories were told to Kipling in their original form when he was a child by his Indian nursemaids. They are drawn from many non-Western sources, and provide good contrasts with European fairy tales. In most cases, the stories are about animals or early human beings and their development into their modern form or capabilities. But they are really satires on human weaknesses, with the moral showing how overcoming a weakness will usually create a strength.
Here are the stories and their morals:
How the Whale Got His Throat -- If you get too greedy, you will bite off more than you can chew. By taking on less at a time, you can absorb more in total.
How the Camel Got His Hump -- If you are lazy and procrastinate, you will just have to do without in the future and be less attractive in order to make up for it. Having resources for times of scarcity is always helpful.
How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin -- Being too aggressive will cause you to experience retribution from those you harm. With more flexibility, you can be more agile.
How the Leopard Got His Spots -- You have a better chance of success if you blend in, rather than trying to stand out individually too much.
The Elephant's Child -- If you are too nosy, you can get into mischief. Having a keen nose can help you sniff out and execute more opportunities.
The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo -- Be careful what you wish for, you may get it. Being boundless gives you the chance to explore more.
The Beginning of the Armadillo -- Versatility is more valuable than knowing just one way to handle a situation.
How the First Letter Was Written -- Miscommunication is easier to accomplish than correct communication. Double-check to be sure the message is understood.
How the Alphabet Was Made -- Choose combinations of communication that are unambiguous, or you will find yourself confusing everyone. This story is a brilliant essay on how one might go about inventing written language.
The Crab that Played with the Sea -- Consider the consequences of your actions before you act, or you may see the actions rebound against you.
The Cat that Walked by Himself -- The benefits of helping others greatly improve one's own life.
The Butterfly that Stamped -- Actions taken for the right reason have just consequences while actions taken for pride tend to boomerang against us.
Each story contains a prose tale, followed by a brief poem. The illustrations are explained in the caption at the end.
The style of the stories includes lots of funny repetition, especially in the names of rivers and the features of the animals being described. With each repetition, your smile will broaden until you cannot suppress a good laugh.
The stories also use the term "best beloved" a lot. What a delightful way to refer to the child to whom you are reading these stories! That would be reason enough to introduce these stories to your children. The phrase "just so" is used less often, but has a nice cadence as well, like a carpenter planing down a piece of wood to fit perfectly into an item being constructed.
Since these "pretend" stories obviously are counter to the latest scientific knowledge, you will probably want to introduce the relevant science to your child, too, at some point. Then you can ask your child why she or he thinks that Kipling made up these stories. This will give you a chance to talk about the implications for people. Be sure to give your child an opportunity to develop his or her own interpretations. Those will be much more useful and memorable than any that you could provide. Try to use questions to lead your little learner forward.
See the opportunities that the proper balance provides!
Book Review: Exactly So
Summary: 5 Stars
Kipling's JUST SO STORIES certainly rank in English-speaking children's literature right along with A. A. Milne's WINNIE THE POOH and Kenneth Grahame's WIND IN THE WILLOWS. They are fun to read to children 4-8, and even MORE fun for them to read for themselves at ages 7-11 (they're marvelous vocabulary builders --"the mariner of infinite resource and sagacity" It is my impression that today the JUST SO STORIES do not enjoy the popularity with children (and parents) that they once had. That may be because they are occasionally "politically incorrect" in their depiction of historical attitudes regarding race and culture. Joel Chandler Harris's UNCLE REMUS stories and even Mark Twain's HUCKLEBERRY FINN are sometimes removed from local library shelves on the same basis. In this reviewer's view, inattention to the works of Kipling and Harris and Twain deprives English-speaking children of some appreciation of the culture and civilization in which they live today. Worse yet, it deprives them of the fun of reading FOR fun.
Rudyard Kipling, referred to by one reviewer here as "not a very good writer" was the first English writer to win the Nobel Prize (not the Pulitzer) for literature, in 1907. He was staunchly pro-Empire in an era in which Great Britain not only ruled the waves, but a third of the globe -- the sun never set, it was said, on the British Empire, of which he sang in hundreds of poems and short stories and novels which also deserve reading today.
But imperial/colonialist notes are hard to hear in the JUST SO STORIES, which Kipling wrote for the amusement of a young niece. The stories are meant for FUN, and all children deserve to have some. Get this book; read it yourself if you haven't already -- and then read it to the youngsters for whom Kipling intended it.
Book Review: Just So-So
Summary: 3 Stars
Rudyard Kipling was not a great writer, but he was a pretty good story-teller, as this collection makes clear. His sentiments, however, are hopelessly mawkish, cloyingly middle-class and really very racist. To put in another way, Kipling was very much a man of his times and background, an Anglo-Indian, fiercly pro-Empire and anti-wog. His stories, especially those made familiar to us by Walt Disney, are quite charming and still stand up to a quick read at bedtime. It perhaps most telling of Kipling's career that he was a celebrity on an international scale, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1907, but is now best remembered for movies starring Shirley Temple and Sabu.Book Review: Excellent! For ALL children - of All ages!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was fortunate enough to have been given a copy of this book, and the accompanying 33rpm record for my 6th birthday. It was to turn out as one of the 'Landmarks" in my reference to life. Almost half a century later, I use the stories for the Grandkids, and as a reminder: He who takes the cakes That the Parsee man makes, Makes dreadful mistakes! It is not possible to recommend this book as a higher value, with the obvious exception of The Holy Bible.Book Review: Fanciful and Imaginative
Summary: 5 Stars
My mother and I used to read the Just So Stories to each other when I was a child, and I have very fond memories of both the story, and the time spent with my mother reading these stories. Over the years, the book was lost, and I was excited to purchase it and received it recently. My favorite story is The Cat That Walked By Himself, and that was the first story I turned to when I received the book. I think every parent should buy this book to read to his or her child.