40 illustrations, some color, some black-and-white. Classic Kipling childrens stories, including 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 ELEPHANTS 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, and THE BUTTERFLY THAT STAMPED. According to Wikipedia: Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865 – 1936) was an English author and poet. Born in Bombay, British India (now Mumbai), he is best known for his works The Jungle Book (1894) and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (1902), his novel, Kim (1901); his poems, including Mandalay (1890), Gunga Din (1890), If— (1910); and his many short stories, including The Man Who Would Be King (1888). He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story; his childrens books are enduring classics of childrens literature; and his best works speak to a versatile and luminous narrative gift. Kipling was one of the most popular writers in English, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[2] The author Henry James said of him: Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius (as distinct from fine intelligence) that I have ever known. In 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English language writer to receive the prize, and to date he remains its youngest recipient. Among other honours, he was sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and on several occasions for a knighthood, all of which he declined.