KidLit Forum

How the Rhinoceros got his Skin

The first thing that I liked about these stories was the serious way in which Kipling was telling us in fact something very funny, it's quite striking, you really don't know whether to laugh or to be serious.
The second thing that I really enjoyed was the text accompanying each picture drawn. He is actually explaining the pictures which I find ironic since it is quite obvious what each picture presents. It also seemed to me quite curious how the Parsee kept the Pharaoh's wheel only to play with it. It would deserve a better treatment as it is an important relic.
At the second picture he makes a comment which I believe is there for children's sake when he speaks about all those ships that got wrecked mentioning the fact that all the passengers were saved and went home.

How the Camel got his hump

I think this was my favourite of all the Just so Stories because it is interesting, serious, and at the same time funny and it’s perfect for children; they are always curious about things, they ask questions about everything and they like this kind of stories. Among the most important things that children can learn from the text there is the importance of being fair and kind, but also the laziness and its consequences.
Also, it may be a great exercise of creativity for children to imagine the camel without a hump, and perhaps to realize that things haven’t always been as we know them now.

_________________
Monika Bandi

_________________
Monika Bandi

I like these stories because they offer us another explanation (imaginary,of course) of how some animals got certain features. For children is probably easier and funnier to read and assimilate these explanations, rather than the biological realisic ones. They may be an interesting choice for certain lessons.I liked the best THE SING SONG OF OLD MAN KANGAROO, a story that shows how one can become diferent from another by doing hard work (the maraton the kangaroo did transformed him).

The Cat that Walked by Himself

This story is about the beginning of domesticated animals and of course, the cat. Out of all the animals presented in this short story, the cat is the only one that gets the option to go and do whatever it pleases because of its intelligence. The cat manages to trick the woman so that it would be allowed to take shelter but also be allowed to go out and do what it pleases.