The Elephant's Child

From Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling published Just So Stories in 1902, a collection of tales explaining how animals came to be the way they are. This story, one of the most famous in the collection, tells how elephants got their trunks. Kipling wrote these stories in a playful, repetitive style meant to be read aloud. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. The story rewards curiosity and shows that even painful experiences can lead to wonderful discoveries.

Band

Green · Independent readers, early, about 8 to 10

Length

medium · about 805 words in 6 sections · 3 pictures

Source

Just so stories, Rudyard Kipling · Project Gutenberg

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (10 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.