These twelve magical tales tell, among other things, how the camel got his hump, the leopard his spots, the elephant his trunk, how the alphabet was made and how a butterfly caused mayhem at the court of King Solomon when he stamped. The Just So Stories are one of the enduring classics of children's literature, not only for their wit, enchantment and language but also for Kipling's own illustrations. With an Afterword by Marcus Clapham

Author Biography

Rudyard Kipling was born in India in 1865. After intermittently moving between India and England during his early life, he settled in the latter in 1889, published his novel The Light That Failed in 1891 and married Caroline (Carrie) Balestier the following year. They returned to her home in Brattleboro, Vermont, where Kipling wrote both The Jungle Book and its sequel, as well as Captains Courageous. He continued to write prolifically and was the first Englishman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907 but his later years were darkened by the death of his son John at the Battle of Loos in 1915. He died in 1936.