Rudyard Kipling had a just-so story just for you : ......"The Beginning of the Armadillos" — how the hedgehog and the turtle transformed into the first armadillos."
A hedge hog & turtle, now that sounds right on target, hehe, you are just so over matched here<gg
Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_So_Stories
Just-So Stories[ edit]
How the Rhinoceros got his Skin, woodcut by Kipling
- "How the Whale Got His Throat" — why the big whale eats such small prey.
- "How the Camel Got His Hump" — how the idle camel was punished and given a hump.
- "How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin" — why rhinos have folds in their skin and bad tempers.
- "How the Leopard Got His Spots" — why leopards have spots.
- "The Elephant's Child/How the Elephant got his Trunk" — how the elephant's trunk became long.
- 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.
- "The Beginning of the Armadillos" — how the hedgehog and the turtle transformed into the first armadillos.
- "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.
- "How the Alphabet Was Made" — Taffy and her father invent the earliest form of the alphabet.
- "The Crab That Played with the Sea" — explains the ebb and flow of the tides, as well as how the crab changed from a huge animal into a small one.
- "The Cat That Walked by Himself" — the longest story, explains how man domesticated all the wild animals except for the cat.
- "The Butterfly That Stamped" — how Solomon rid himself of troublesome wives, and saved the pride of a butterfly.
- "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. |
