Selected Just So Stories

By: Rudyard Kipling

Narrated by: Johnny Morris

Length: 3 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

The complete collection of Rudyard Kipling's classic fables, read by Johnny Morris.

Have you ever wondered how and why the animals came to be as they are? In these magical tales, drawn from stories he heard as a child in India as well as on folk traditions he later collected all over the world, Rudyard Kipling gives some wonderfully imaginative explanations.

This selection includes 'The Beginning of the Armadillos', 'The Cat that Walked by Himself', and 'The Butterfly that Stamped'. Originally told by Rudyard Kipling for his own children, these witty, fanciful tales have been loved by generations of children ever since.

©2008 Audible, Inc. (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Excellent

These are some of my all time favorite stories and they were told beautifully, keeping my two children, their friend, and myself thoroughly engaged and entertained on a long car ride. I sometimes want to listen even when the kids aren't with me.

HORRID NARRATOR

I love the Just So stories. I wouldn't have thought that anyone could have ruined them...and boy, was I ever wrong! The narrator doesn't speak clearly and tries to do his own sound effects. He should have stuck to just telling the stories. One example is "How the Camel Got His Hump." I remember this well from my childhood days...but the way this narrator tells the story- you would never get that the camel was going around saying "humph!" to everyone (instead it is some extremely loud noise that's supposed to be a camel)...and so you would miss the point of the story. Unless, of course, you already knew the story. My children usually pay really close attention to audiobooks while in the car- this didn't keep their attention at all. They love the stories in book form. If you are at all picky about narrators- DO NOT GET THIS!

Stories Included

Since the description isn't very clear: this recording includes every Just So Story EXCEPT for How the Alphabet was Made, due to the need to read it with the original illustrations.

It's a very good recording!

Not that good

No chapters and I didn't enjoy the readers telling. No chapters really is a deal breaker especially when there are multiple stories. The not so special effect killed it for me...

Fun & sweet, & great narration

The stories are fun, sweet and gentle, just right for little kids (and big ones, too!). But the narrator is fantastic - you really feel like you're sitting around a campfire, listening to him spin yarns about talking animals!

Always a favorite

Bedtime stories are nice, even for adults. A friend was puzzled by my listening to the same books and stories over and over again, and mentioned it to me while her favorite music was playing - not for the first time.
This book is one like that favorite album for me.

I wish the stories were each a chapter!

What a wonderful way to share the Just So Stories with my children. Fantastic performance. My ONLY wish is that they would divide the recording so each chapter was its own story. My kids want to skip some stories and listen to others over and over, and this is awkward and difficult as it’s currently presented.

Great

Love the narrator -children of various ages sat quietly and listened
Good value for a classic collection

bekka

splendid

Narrator ruined it

Stories are phenomenal but the narrator tried to make sound effects that are down right awful

Where are the verses?

The book although beautifull and wonderfully read IS abridged! I was very disapointed not finding my favorite verses in the end of each story. In truth, the verses were for me the main reason for buying the UNABRIDGED book so I am entitled to feel not only disapointed but simply cheated. Besides, buying the audiobook consisted of certain number of stories, you expect you can choose which one you would want to listen at a time. On this record it is imposible because they are not divided into the tracks.

Not quite complete

Kipling's stories are marvellous and the performance by the legendary Johnny Morris is superb. But one of the stories is missing because it has too many pictures. This is understandable but it also omits the little poems between the stories, echoes of which are stirring in my mind from about forty years since I last read them.

No chapters :(

Nicely read and of course the stories are great. However, audiobook is split into only 2 chapters, so can’t skip to requested stories when needed - very frustrating.

Great stories, very well read.

Very good audiobook. The last stories are a bit longer and harder to follow for smaller children but the first ones were appropriate to (almost) all ages.

Magical, O Best Beloved

Would you consider the audio edition of The Complete Just So Stories to be better than the print version?

Overall print is better. With the audio book you miss out on the second Taffy story, How The Alphabet Was Made, as it is so dependant on the illustrations (it's well worth the effort to track down a print version with the original illustrations). I am very disappointed that Kipling's verses that accompany each story have been excluded from the audio book.

What did you like best about this story?

The great use of language and the lyrical quality of the prose.

What about Johnny Morris’s performance did you like?

Just hearing Johnny Morris's voice again catapulted me back to childhood. For millions of British kids growing up in the 60s and 70s there is no voice that talking animals could possibly have other than his (except, perhaps, Willie Rushton). A classic book read by a classic performer.

Any additional comments?

A must have for anyone who was lucky enough to have the book read to them as a child. And a must have for anyone living with someone who had the book read to them as a child - it will shed light on why otherwise perfectly normal people go around using words like "sclusive", "curtiosity" and refer to their husbands as men of "infinite-resource-and-sagacity".

childhood memories.

brings back memories from my childhood. I loved these stories then and now my children enjoy them. well read and engaging. my children love listening to them and laugh every time. would recommend this book to everyone. brilliant.

No bookshelf is complete without this one!

This is one of my childhood favourites, and the narrator tells the wonderful stories with plenty of colour and vigour. I can't imagine a young mind not being enthralled by this book.

As a childhood should be

If you could sum up The Complete Just So Stories in three words, what would they be?

Imaginative captivating enjoyable

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This collection of stories grab the imagination and take you on a journey into a land where children do not need dumbed down language to be entertained and engaged. A classic.

The Best

Johnny Morris still has the very best voice for reading any stories about animals, much better than I could ever do myself when reading stories to my own children, so now I take real pleasure from listening together with my grandchildren to the inimical Johnny Morris myself; and there are not manny children's stories which even the grown-ups really enjoy listening to.

Review by Billy, aged 7

This was a very good book but I think that the stories could be a bit better. My favourite was the story of the Cat that Walked by Himself.