Audiobook · read by volunteers
Just So Stories (version 3)
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936)
Read by rachelellen, Philippa, Graham Redman, Annise, Stephanie Land · 12 chapters · 3 h 14
About the book
How did the whale get his throat? Why does the camel have a hump, and the rhinoceros such a baggy skin? In Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling answers the questions that children love to ask with fanciful tales told in a rhythmic, repetitive style meant for reading aloud. There are made-up words, cheerful nonsense and clever animals who make bad choices and are rewarded with the features we know. The stories were first told to Kipling's own children, and the sense of a parent talking to a child at bedtime can still be heard in the prose. This recording contains twelve tales, shared among five readers, with a total running time of just over three hours. Whether you are young or simply young at heart, these stories are made for sharing, and each one is short enough to enjoy as a night-time treat.
Introduction
Rudyard Kipling, who lived from 1865 to 1936, was a British writer born in India. He wrote poems, short stories and novels, among them The Jungle Book, and in 1907 he became the first English-language writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. Just So Stories was published in 1902.
The book consists of tales about the origin of animal characteristics, written in a teasing manner and often featuring a clever or foolish creature and a moral that is lightly worn. Kipling also illustrated the stories himself in the original edition. The phrase just so has entered the language to describe a story that explains something in a neat but fanciful way.
This is the third LibriVox version of the collection. It has twelve recordings, from How the Whale got his Throat and How the Camel got his Hump to How the Rhinoceros got its Skin and onwards, and lasts about three hours and twelve minutes. Five volunteers share the reading. The stories are particularly well suited to listening because their repeated phrases and chants are designed to be heard. These stories have been enjoyed by many generations, and their spoken quality is one reason. Kipling loved the sound of words, and he used long, playful names and refrains that children soon begin to repeat. With several readers sharing the book, the recording keeps a pleasing variety, and the tales can be taken one at a time or heard in a single sitting.
Public domain
Rudyard Kipling died in 1936: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text