Just So Stories, Volume I

Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories is one of the best-loved story collections ever written for children. Now Ian Wallace, one of Canada's most accomplished children's book illustrators, reinterprets the famous tales with his vibrant art, bringing Kipling to a whole new generation of young readers. Kipling wrote the stories for his young daughter, who would only sleep if they were told “just so.” The first edition was published in Great Britain in 1902, along with black-and-white illustrations by the author himself. The stories have remained in print ever since, delighting young readers all over the world. Many of the tales are origin stories, explaining how an animal came to be the way it is. They are ripe with imagination, inventive vocabulary and word play. This new edition, published more than 110 years after the original, has been edited to remove any racist language. The first handsome volume includes “How the Whale Got His Throat,” “How the Camel Got His Hump,” “How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin,” “How the Leopard Got His Spots,” “The Elephant's Child” and “The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo.” The second volume will be published in spring 2014. Inspired by these remarkable stories from all around the world, Ian Wallace has chosen to make an annual donation to IBBY's Fund for Children in Crisis.