These witty stories were originally told by Rudyard Kipling to his own children. In them he gives fanciful accounts of how and why things came to be as they are.

 

Generations of children have delighted to learn how the Leopard got his spots, how the Elephant's Child on the banks of the great grey-green Limpopo acquired his trunk with the help of the Crocodile, and the beginning of the Armadillos.

 

 

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"How the Whale Got His Throat" — why the big whale eats such small prey.

 

 

 

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"How the Camel Got His Hump" — how the idle camel was punished and given a hump.

 

 

 

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"How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin" — why rhinos have folds in their skin and bad tempers.

 

 

 

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"How the Leopard Got His Spots" - why leopards have spots.

 

 

 

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"The Elephant's Child/How the Elephant got his Trunk — how the elephant's trunk became long.

 

 

 

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The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo — how the kangaroo turned from a grey, woolly animal with short, stubby legs, to one with long legs and tail.

 

 

 

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"The Beginning of the Armadillos" — how the hedgehog and the turtle transformed into the first armadillos.

 

 

 

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"The Crab That Played with the Sea" — explains the ebb and flow of the tides

 

 

 

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"The Cat That Walked by Himself" — the longest story, explains how man domesticated all the wild animals except for the cat.

 

 

 

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