These witty stories were originally told by Rudyard Kipling to his own children. In them he gives fanciful accounts of how and why things came to be as they are. Generations of children have delighted to learn how the Leopard got his spots, how the Elephant's Child on the banks of the great grey-green Limpopo acquired his trunk with the help of the Crocodile, and the beginning of the Armadillos. Beautifully illustrated in black-and-white by the author, these delightful tales will hold the reader and listener spellbound. Stories include: 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 The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo The Beginning of the Armadillos How the First Letter was Written How the Alphabet was Made The Crab that Played with the Sea The Cat that Walked by Himself The Butterfly that Stamped AUTHOR: Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865 1936) was an English poet, short-story writer and novelist. His stories of the British in India reached their height of popularity in the 1890s, but opinion turned against him as the public perception of the days of the Empire changed. With the passing of years, he can now be viewed from a historical perspective as a recorder of the world as it was then. His books for children, including 'The Jungle Book' and 'The Second Jungle' have an enduring appeal.