Just so Stories (abridged)
by Kipling, Rudyard
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Fine
- Seller
-
Williamsburg, Virginia, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
The delightful tales of whales and cats and kangaroos and crabs – everything from how the camel got in a humph (and got his hump!) to how the alphabet was invented. Enchanting and funny, these fantastical stories continue to delight each and every generation.With an inspiring written, inspiring introduction by Jonathan Stroud, author of the Bartimaeus trilogy, Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling is one of the twelve wonderful classic stories being relaunched in Puffin Classics in March 2008.
Reviews
The original edition (1902) of Rudyard Kipling's yarns for children, JUST SO STORIES, has 12 tales. Some later editions added a 13th ("The Tabu Tale") and might have added a 14th from 1895, THE JUNGLE BOOK, on how the tiger got his stripes. *** Most of the stories are about animals, usually having one part of their anatomy being transformed by outside pressure ( e.g. a young elephant's puffy nose being stretched out to today's dimensions by a crocodile trying to drag the curious youngster for its dinner into "the great gray-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees"). But my favorite is about the domestication by earliest humans of the first wild animals: dog, horse and cat. It is called "The Cat That Walked by Himself." And the free-spirited cat was notable for negotiating, not entirely to his satisfaction, the anarchical terms under which he will consent to live with Man, Woman and Baby "for always and always and always." *** Standing far apart from the animal tales are two inter-twined yarns: "How the First Letter Was Written" and "How The Alphabet Was Made." Rooting the alphabet as we know it in a young cave girl's efforts to send a message home through a stranger speaking a different language but carrying with him an incomprehensible sketch she had drawn, Kipling makes learning the alphabet extra fun for youngsters and adds a bit of spoofing history as well. *** It is easy to imagine that the "O my Best Beloved" to whom Kipling later told the JUST SO STORIES was his oldest child, Vermont-born Josephine ("josie") who died of pneumonia at age six. -OOO-
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Details
- Bookseller
- James F. Balsley, Bookseller (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 17615
- Title
- Just so Stories (abridged)
- Author
- Kipling, Rudyard
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- International Collector's Library
- Place of Publication
- Garden City, N. Y.
- Date Published
- N.D.
- Bookseller catalogs
- Children & Juvenile; Children''s Classics;
Terms of Sale
James F. Balsley, Bookseller
All books are warranted to be as described and genuine (unless stated otherwise in the description). Payment by check, US postal money order or cashier's check in USD will be accepted and should be made out to James F. Balsley. Checks may be held until cleared by the bank unless you are known to me. Checks must be drawn on a US bank. Credit cards are accepted through Biblio.com. Books may be returned for any reason within 10 days of receipt for a full refund of the purchase price provided the book is returned in the same condition in which it was shipped. If the return is because the description is inaccurate or other error on my part, I will also refund the postage both ways.
About the Seller
James F. Balsley, Bookseller
About James F. Balsley, Bookseller
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