Just So Stories Hardcover – Illustrated, September 20, 2016

A gift.

“Just So Stories” is a collection of 12 children’s stories. The theme that runs through the dozen stories is that they are mostly tall-tale answers for questions that children might have. All but two of them focus on animals and nature, and the two divergent stories deal with the origin of written language. Since it’s such a small collection and the titles tend to synopsize the stories, I’ll include the table of contents below, which may give one greater insight into the nature of the stories.1.) How the Whale Got his Throat2.) How the Camel Got his Hump3.) How the Rhinoceros Got his Skin4.) How the Leopard Got his Spots5.) The Elephant’s Child6.) The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo7.) The Beginning of the Armadillos8.) How the First Letter Was Made9.) How the Alphabet Was Made10.) The Crab that Played with the Sea11.) The Cat that Walked by Himself12.) The Butterfly that StampedThe edition that I have has a number of black-and-white graphics (block print and line drawn style)—one or two per story. Given the genre, I imagine most editions have some kind of pictures, but your edition’s graphics may vary. A number of the stories include short poetry—usually at the end. The poetry is part of the original Kipling product and so are likely included in all unabridged editions.I’d recommend this book for those looking for short stories that are relatable to young children.

I first read this book many years ago in Elementary School. As I look back at the stories, I consider them classics for adults and children. The author was born in India during the Raj; his Amma taught him to remember to speak English, his second language.Kipling is great reading for young children and adults for the quality of the stories, and his use of the English language. Today, I find contemporary children's books that lack the beauty and language of these stories.I have gifted them to all my grandchildren so they may, by reading quality works, learn to speak and write well. Perfect for Christmas or anytime reading.Kipling also wrote 'Captains Courageous', which differs significantly from the 1937 film in plot line. The novel is quite suitable for young readers, too.*** Please note there are TWO volumes to the Jungle Books, the second has continuing stories about Mowgli, and others.***

Got this for my four year old, who's just learning to read and still relies on colorful, captive illustrations. Based on another review, I bought the hard cover version, expecting beautiful full page illustrations. Unfortunately, what I got was a very pixelated (but colored) cover, black and white images throughout, smatters of glue/resin, poor page binding, and unnumbered pages.At least the texts are legible (haven't read through any to confirm completeness), although there's no consistency in sizing or spacing.

There is no specific publisher listed for this Kindle version of Kipling's "Just So Stories", but among the many inexpensive e-book editions of the work on Amazon's site that I pored over samples of, it is the best. If you want the book on a Kindle, this one's well worth the three-dollar price.Properly formatting books for conversion from print editions to electronic ones is a difficult task, and you can definitely tell when an e-media publisher or editor has their heart in the work. That is especially true of this Kipling classic, and while you could argue that the original charm of the great illustrations, litho-style initial capital images, and well separated and positioned verbal vignettes found in most old large-format print editions is really not translatable to a hand-held, pageless e-reader at all, this version at least leaves nothing out: All the initial icons, litho-style images (with Kipling's essential captioning), and the little "sloka" ditties I remember from childhood are still there (as well as the mere B&W shadows of Gleeson's original full-page color illustrations). The text itself seems error-free, and has not been bowdlerized as far as I can tell. Not something for bedtime with the little tykes (buy them a nice folio print edition), but a pleasant whimsy for us older adults taking a time-out from the freshly downloaded issue of WSJ in the park.

I thought I had written a review on this previously, but I think it had a slightly different title (complete just so stories) so I'll write one for this particular title. I was given this book years ago, when my son was 3, by a friend of mine. He told me I should read the stories first and pick out the ones that I felt would be appropriate for my son, which I did. He loved the stories, particularly "how the rhinoceros got his skin," and I read it to him almost every night (we had been reading all Disney stories up until then). There were about 2 or 3 other stories in the book that we also read. It was wonderful and made him smile before going to sleep, always important! Yes, there are phrases, etc., in the book that are inappropriate, but Disney also has some pretty embarrassing things in their books, as well. Really. Read the things you intend to read to your children, and make decisions based on your perception of content. It's an excellent book, with some very excellent stories. My son still remembers that book, and still loves the stories. Because I sold the book when we moved, I purchased a new one for a friend just having a baby recently. As I was told years ago, I told her to read the stories first and find the ones that she liked, and felt were good for her child.

... beware the n-word within ("How the Leopard Got Its Spots") if you are buying as a present for someone. Apparently some versions have removed it. This one did not have it removed.P.S. Please don't throw me any shade for pointing this out. It's something I would have wanted to know before buying it, and information for others is all I intend by writing this review. I have other opinions on this topic but this is not the place to get into them.

This is a delightful edition of all twelve Just So Stories and includes original pen and ink illustrations. My biggest problem with this little, pocket size book is its size (16cm x 10cm) which means that the type has to be very small and, even with glasses, I found it a strain to read. This may also deter very young readers. The black and white illustrations may also not appeal to todays' children, used as they are to lots of colour. I would think that the main appeal of this book will be to parents, reading to their children, or to adults, like myself, recapturing happy memories of their childhood.

This is Rudyard Kipling classic collection of just so stories. it is worth noting that in the kindle edition the pictures are missing - this makes the alphabet story quite confusing to read.Additionally there is a mention of the “N” word in the ethiopian story which would have been common at the time but might catch you by surprise if reading with your children.

The language in some of the stories is tedious. The plots are fine for kids actually and could work very well if only the language was revised. I am also quite disappointed in the quality of the illustrations in the Kindle edition. They are so minute and I could not manage to zoom in to them to get a closer look. They are quite integral to the content of the stories so I don't know why there seemed to be no attempt to address the picture quality issue before publishing the Kindle edition. Well I read from the beginning all the way to the story about how the first alphabet came about and the 8 year old had had enough of it. She finally said she hated the book. I then went and bought the Kindle edition of Charlotte's Web by E.B. White instead and it was much better received.

Absolutely delighted with this book.... I wanted a 'special' edition to give to my grandson. The book is a good size, beautifully laid out with not only the original illustrations but also a delightful frieze of animals on the top and bottom margins of every page. The print is clear and a good size, and the cover is blocked in gold, with a green background and the 'Elephant's Child' picture in the centre with background in red. There is also a ribbon book mark - a really lovely volume which will be memorable and I hope treasured! One final point, that although this edition was published in 2008 the book is in remarkably good condition - clearly never read, and a very little scuffing on the corners - exactly as described.

I remember when I was little listening to these stories on tape in the car, and after hearing a friend talk about how his father used to read them to him (and him then reciting one correctly from memory) I bought the book and felt very nostalgic reading them. I would certainly recommend this to anyone with kids, or to anyone who wants to relive a little childhood innocence, especially this edition with such a tasteful hardback cover.