Rating: 
Summary: Just so Stories
Review: My mom used to read these to me before I went to bed almost every night. I love the stories! They have good morals in them too. After a while, I started to read them out loud to myself and that got me into reading other stories. I think it's a wonderful book to read to your children. Or maybe, your child could read it to you?
Rating: 
Summary: Fanciful and Imaginative
Review: My mother and I used to read the Just So Stories to each other when I was a child, and I have very fond memories of both the story, and the time spent with my mother reading these stories. Over the years, the book was lost, and I was excited to purchase it and received it recently. My favorite story is The Cat That Walked By Himself, and that was the first story I turned to when I received the book. I think every parent should buy this book to read to his or her child.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: Rudyard Kipling is a most briliant wrighter. Although his stories are geared twords children, anyone who was ever a child will enjoy them forever. This is a great book for bedtime tales, and will cause nightmares in only the most insucre and desturbed children. Children whom should be locked in a white padded room. These are the calmest non-violent tales to be told. Furthermore, your children will not be dissipointed by you not reading at bedtime, because you will be looking forward to it all day! Please parden the misspellings.
Rating: 
Summary: Just So-So
Review: Rudyard Kipling was not a great writer, but he was a pretty good story-teller, as this collection makes clear. His sentiments, however, are hopelessly mawkish, cloyingly middle-class and really very racist. To put in another way, Kipling was very much a man of his times and background, an Anglo-Indian, fiercly pro-Empire and anti-wog. His stories, especially those made familiar to us by Walt Disney, are quite charming and still stand up to a quick read at bedtime. It perhaps most telling of Kipling's career that he was a celebrity on an international scale, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1907, but is now best remembered for movies starring Shirley Temple and Sabu.
Rating:
Summary: Just so-so stories
Review: Rudyard Kipling's writing style is suited to a time in history when people were named "Rudyard." No parent would dream of naming a kid Rudyard nowadays because it's an old-fashioned, fuddy-duddy name. And these stories are old-fashioned, fuddy-duddy stories.
The prose harkens back to a time when old men told tales around pot-bellied stoves. There is a lot of repetition. There is a lot of repetition.
Kipling clearly was pleasing himself when he wrote these stories; you get a sense that he's reveling in his own cleverness. He comes off like an old blowhard uncle who makes you sit down and listen to his boring stories while you impatiently wait for him to finish so you can go outside and play. Instead, though, you end up wanting to take a nap because your uncle has bored you so.
I'm giving this three stars instead of two because my 5-year-old son likes these stories more than I do, mainly because they make him sleepy at bedtime. Better-written material, such as the Cat in the Hat, stimulates my son and keeps him awake.
So there you have it -- Just So Stories is a great collection of bedtime tales because they'll put your kids to sleep.
Rating:
Summary: Restrained enthusiasm.
Review: Since their publication a century ago in 1902, Kipling's "Just So Stories" have pleased children and adults alike. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907, Kipling was a prolific writer for both adults and children, but the "Just So Stories" continues to be regarded as one of the favorites of Kipling's work. Unlike some of his other works, his imperialist political viewpoint is not evident, but it exhibits only his superb skill at amusing children by his writings. This is a collection of a dozen short stories which display his remarkable ability to enchant the reader - especially children - with the written word, and makes for excellent "bedtime" story reading for young children. It's not hard to see why so many readers speak of it with unrestrained enthusiasm.Yet as a Christian I could not wholeheartedly share the boundless devotion of most readers, and my own enthusiasm was more restrained. Kipling is evidently familiar with the Bible and the Christian faith, because he makes frequent allusions to Biblical concepts and history, such as Noah's ark. "The Butterfly that Stamped" even features king Solomon and the Queen of Sheba as two main characters. Although both of Kipling's grandfathers were Methodist preachers, he abandoned his family heritage, stating "Three generations of Wesleyan ministers ... lie behind me." Kipling' conscious departure from the Christian heritage is also evident in the "Just So Stories". Even in "The Butterfly that Stamped" he presents king Solomon and the Queen of Sheba as married, something not revealed in Scripture. Moreover, in many of his stories he presents an evolutionary approach to the creation of the world. "How the First Letter was Written" features a Neolithic Cave Man, and "The Cat that Walked by Himself" describes the "taming" of a wild man, wild dog, wild horse, wild cow, and wild cat. Judging charitably, it has to be admitted that many of his stories are presented as clearly absurd, nonsensical and fantastic. One could hardly maintain seriously that in stories like "How the Whale got his Throat" and "How the Camel got his Hump" Kipling is trying to present an alternate creation account. Nonetheless, Kipling does more than just present a fantastic creation account, but in the process is rather disrespectful and mocking of the real creation account, especially in "The Crab that Played with the Sea" which features an "Eldest Magician" making the world by a magic, and also "The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo" which features three gods. But perhaps Kipling's true feelings toward the Bible are most clearly evident in "How the Leopard got his Spots", where he refers to grown-ups saying "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots?" - a direct quotation from Jeremiah 13:23! - and says "I don't think even grown-ups would keep on saying such a silly thing if the Leopard and the Ethiopian hadn't done it once - do you?" Here Kipling shows his true colours. No amount of charity can justify Kipling speaking of the Word of God as "a silly thing". It's unfortunate that the literary qualities of these stories are not matched by spiritual fervour. Christian parents will want to be selective in which stories they read to their children. Yet the literary qualities of these stories cannot be denied. They are probably best enjoyed when read aloud to children, and feature a charming, and warm style that is absolutely nonsensical and yet completely captivating. "How the Alphabet was Made" is perhaps one of the few exceptions - it is a creative concept, but is somewhat tedious and lacks the charm of the other stories. But nearly all the other stories are delightfully told and wonderfully enjoyable in their exaggerated nonsense. For instance, in "How the Whale got his Throat", Kipling introduces the reader to a man "sitting on a raft, in the middle of the sea, with nothing on but a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders." As in many of his stories, his use of repetition skilfully warms up a smile on your face. Throughout the story, he repeatedly and gently admonishes the reader "you must NOT forget the suspenders, Best Beloved", "Have you forgotten the suspenders?" It seems absurd, but in the end proves to make perfect sense, because it is the suspenders that the man used to tie his raft in the whale's mouth, and that's how the whale got his throat! Totally absurd, but frightfully funny! At the same time, Kipling uses his nonsensical style to convey fables about animals which satirize human values and vices. For instance, "How the Camel Got His Hump" is a satirical commentary on laziness and procrastination. This is the hallmark of Kipling's style in most of the stories, and it is this exemplary literary quality that has rightly gained this work the fame it deserves. This edition also reproduces Kipling's original pen and ink drawings, complete with his delightful commentary explaining the illustration. It's worth adding to your collection, because all readers will find something here that they can enjoy. Even those of us with restrained enthusiasm like me, can not help speak of the "Just So Stories" with much enthusiasm! They are more than Just So-So.
Rating:
Summary: Restrained enthusiasm.
Review: Since their publication a century ago in 1902, Kipling's "Just So Stories" have pleased children and adults alike. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907, Kipling was a prolific writer for both adults and children, but the "Just So Stories" continues to be regarded as one of the favorites of Kipling's work. Unlike some of his other works, his imperialist political viewpoint is not evident, but it exhibits only his superb skill at amusing children by his writings. This is a collection of a dozen short stories which display his remarkable ability to enchant the reader - especially children - with the written word, and makes for excellent "bedtime" story reading for young children. It's not hard to see why so many readers speak of it with unrestrained enthusiasm. Yet as a Christian I could not wholeheartedly share the boundless devotion of most readers, and my own enthusiasm was more restrained. Kipling is evidently familiar with the Bible and the Christian faith, because he makes frequent allusions to Biblical concepts and history, such as Noah's ark. "The Butterfly that Stamped" even features king Solomon and the Queen of Sheba as two main characters. Although both of Kipling's grandfathers were Methodist preachers, he abandoned his family heritage, stating "Three generations of Wesleyan ministers ... lie behind me." Kipling' conscious departure from the Christian heritage is also evident in the "Just So Stories". Even in "The Butterfly that Stamped" he presents king Solomon and the Queen of Sheba as married, something not revealed in Scripture. Moreover, in many of his stories he presents an evolutionary approach to the creation of the world. "How the First Letter was Written" features a Neolithic Cave Man, and "The Cat that Walked by Himself" describes the "taming" of a wild man, wild dog, wild horse, wild cow, and wild cat. Judging charitably, it has to be admitted that many of his stories are presented as clearly absurd, nonsensical and fantastic. One could hardly maintain seriously that in stories like "How the Whale got his Throat" and "How the Camel got his Hump" Kipling is trying to present an alternate creation account. Nonetheless, Kipling does more than just present a fantastic creation account, but in the process is rather disrespectful and mocking of the real creation account, especially in "The Crab that Played with the Sea" which features an "Eldest Magician" making the world by a magic, and also "The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo" which features three gods. But perhaps Kipling's true feelings toward the Bible are most clearly evident in "How the Leopard got his Spots", where he refers to grown-ups saying "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots?" - a direct quotation from Jeremiah 13:23! - and says "I don't think even grown-ups would keep on saying such a silly thing if the Leopard and the Ethiopian hadn't done it once - do you?" Here Kipling shows his true colours. No amount of charity can justify Kipling speaking of the Word of God as "a silly thing". It's unfortunate that the literary qualities of these stories are not matched by spiritual fervour. Christian parents will want to be selective in which stories they read to their children. Yet the literary qualities of these stories cannot be denied. They are probably best enjoyed when read aloud to children, and feature a charming, and warm style that is absolutely nonsensical and yet completely captivating. "How the Alphabet was Made" is perhaps one of the few exceptions - it is a creative concept, but is somewhat tedious and lacks the charm of the other stories. But nearly all the other stories are delightfully told and wonderfully enjoyable in their exaggerated nonsense. For instance, in "How the Whale got his Throat", Kipling introduces the reader to a man "sitting on a raft, in the middle of the sea, with nothing on but a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders." As in many of his stories, his use of repetition skilfully warms up a smile on your face. Throughout the story, he repeatedly and gently admonishes the reader "you must NOT forget the suspenders, Best Beloved", "Have you forgotten the suspenders?" It seems absurd, but in the end proves to make perfect sense, because it is the suspenders that the man used to tie his raft in the whale's mouth, and that's how the whale got his throat! Totally absurd, but frightfully funny! At the same time, Kipling uses his nonsensical style to convey fables about animals which satirize human values and vices. For instance, "How the Camel Got His Hump" is a satirical commentary on laziness and procrastination. This is the hallmark of Kipling's style in most of the stories, and it is this exemplary literary quality that has rightly gained this work the fame it deserves. This edition also reproduces Kipling's original pen and ink drawings, complete with his delightful commentary explaining the illustration. It's worth adding to your collection, because all readers will find something here that they can enjoy. Even those of us with restrained enthusiasm like me, can not help speak of the "Just So Stories" with much enthusiasm! They are more than Just So-So.
Rating:
Summary: Just So Stories
Review: The just so stories
By: Rudyard Kipling Published by: William Morrow and Company This book O best beloved (meaning you, in the language that the author used) is a short story book that has many adventures to it and the one that I'm going to tell you about is the story called, The Beginning of the Armadillos. This plot takes us to the steamy jungles of the Amazon rain forest in South America in the Northern part of Brazil. Also in this plot there lives a painted jaguar, a stickly-prickly hedgehog, and slow and solid tortoise. Now O best beloved (meaning you) this particular jaguar isn't very bright so he goes to his mother for advice on how to eat the hedgehog and the tortoise. Well, as any mother would, she tells him ohhh, so many times graciously waving her tail, "Painted Jaguar to catch the hedgehog you must dip him the water so he will uncoil and you must scoop the tortoise out of it's shell with your paw, got it?!" So he goes to the river to find the hedgehog and the tortoise so he can eat them. The first time they barely got away by confusing him. The hedgehog and the tortoise confuse him by messing up what his mother told him. But the second time Painted Jaguar is confused just by looking at them. You'll have to read it to believe it. As you know, in this particular story you are introduced to a hedgehog named Stickly-Prickly and a tortoise named Slow and Solid. As you might see these two unique animals are very close and have the same predators. In this story Stickly-Prickly hedgehog and Slow and Solid tortoise are being hunted by a creature named Painted Jaguar, as you know, who is not too smart and has spots. Now since Stickly-Prickly and Slow and Solid were able to fool the jaguar once they want to make him so confused that he won't know which is which just by looking at them. So day after day they teach one another how the other works, like Stickly-Prickly teaches Slow and Solid to curl up and Slow and Solid teaches Stickly-Prickly how to swim. After they have done that and are comfortable with their skills they wait for Painted Jaguar to come looking for them but they don't know that they will never be the same again. Stickly-Prickly hedgehog and Slow and Solid tortoise help this particular story because they are smart and they fool the jaguar and they surprise the reader with their cunning and hard work. This book has been really fun in the fact that there is more than one story in the book and for me more than one story meant that it was a page turner. The story that I described in this book review was easy to concentrate on because I liked it so much. Some stories in this book were just plain old boring so it was harder to read them . The thing that caught my attention was the language that the author used in the book, I thought that the language was very unique and very funny. To tell the truth I thought that there weren't very many surprises at all, the only surprises would be all the purposes of the story that was being told, like how the camel got his hump or the beginning of the Armadillos. To me they make the language in the book fun, like Oh best beloved and stickly-prickly and slow and solid. The people who might like this book would have to have a sense of humor, so if they have that then the person reading this book will have a very fun time indeed.
Rating:
Summary: Just So Stories
Review: The just so stories
By: Rudyard Kipling Published by: William Morrow and Company This book O best beloved (meaning you, in the language that the author used) is a short story book that has many adventures to it and the one that I'm going to tell you about is the story called, The Beginning of the Armadillos. This plot takes us to the steamy jungles of the Amazon rain forest in South America in the Northern part of Brazil. Also in this plot there lives a painted jaguar, a stickly-prickly hedgehog, and slow and solid tortoise. Now O best beloved (meaning you) this particular jaguar isn't very bright so he goes to his mother for advice on how to eat the hedgehog and the tortoise. Well, as any mother would, she tells him ohhh, so many times graciously waving her tail, "Painted Jaguar to catch the hedgehog you must dip him the water so he will uncoil and you must scoop the tortoise out of it's shell with your paw, got it?!" So he goes to the river to find the hedgehog and the tortoise so he can eat them. The first time they barely got away by confusing him. The hedgehog and the tortoise confuse him by messing up what his mother told him. But the second time Painted Jaguar is confused just by looking at them. You'll have to read it to believe it. As you know, in this particular story you are introduced to a hedgehog named Stickly-Prickly and a tortoise named Slow and Solid. As you might see these two unique animals are very close and have the same predators. In this story Stickly-Prickly hedgehog and Slow and Solid tortoise are being hunted by a creature named Painted Jaguar, as you know, who is not too smart and has spots. Now since Stickly-Prickly and Slow and Solid were able to fool the jaguar once they want to make him so confused that he won't know which is which just by looking at them. So day after day they teach one another how the other works, like Stickly-Prickly teaches Slow and Solid to curl up and Slow and Solid teaches Stickly-Prickly how to swim. After they have done that and are comfortable with their skills they wait for Painted Jaguar to come looking for them but they don't know that they will never be the same again. Stickly-Prickly hedgehog and Slow and Solid tortoise help this particular story because they are smart and they fool the jaguar and they surprise the reader with their cunning and hard work. This book has been really fun in the fact that there is more than one story in the book and for me more than one story meant that it was a page turner. The story that I described in this book review was easy to concentrate on because I liked it so much. Some stories in this book were just plain old boring so it was harder to read them . The thing that caught my attention was the language that the author used in the book, I thought that the language was very unique and very funny. To tell the truth I thought that there weren't very many surprises at all, the only surprises would be all the purposes of the story that was being told, like how the camel got his hump or the beginning of the Armadillos. To me they make the language in the book fun, like Oh best beloved and stickly-prickly and slow and solid. The people who might like this book would have to have a sense of humor, so if they have that then the person reading this book will have a very fun time indeed.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Stories!
Review: The Nobel winning author gave young readers and older readers alike these marvelous stories about animals. Anyone who loves animals will love these cute stories.
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