Just So Stories - Just-So Stories

Just-So Stories

1. "How the Whale Got His Throat" — why the big whale eats such small prey.
2. "How the Camel Got His Hump" — how the idle camel was punished.
3. "How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin" — why rhinos have folds in their skin and bad tempers.
4. "How the Leopard Got His Spots"
5. "The Elephant's Child — how the elephant's trunk became long.
6. The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo — how the kangaroo turned from a grey, woolly animal with short, stubby legs, to one with long legs and tail
7. "The Beginning of the Armadillos" — how the hedgehog and the turtle transformed into the first armadillos.
8. "How the First Letter Was Written" — introduces the only characters who appear in more than one story, a family of cave-people, called Tegumai Bopsulai (the father), Teshumai Tewindrow (the mother), and Taffimai Metallumai, (the daughter). Explains how Taffimai delivered a picture message to her mother.
9. "How the Alphabet Was Made" — Taffy and her father invent the earliest form of the alphabet.
10. "The Crab That Played with the Sea" — explains the ebb and flow of the tides
11. "The Cat That Walked by Himself" — the longest story, explains how man domesticated all the wild animals except for the cat.
12. "The Butterfly That Stamped" — how Solomon rid himself of troublesome wives, and saved the pride of a butterfly.
13. "The Tabu Tale" (missing from most British editions; first appeared in the Scribner edition in the U.S. in 1903)

As well as appearing in a collection, the individual stories have also been published as separate books, often in large-format, illustrated editions for younger children.