How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin

A Just So Story retold from Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling published this story in 1902 as part of his Just So Stories, playful tales that imagine how animals came to look the way they do. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. The Parsee is a member of the Zoroastrian faith, a tradition from ancient Persia. Kipling's story teaches that bad manners and greed have consequences—Rhinoceros stole a cake and ended up wrinkly and grumpy forever. The rhythm, the nonsense geography, and the tickly cake crumbs make this one of the most-loved stories in the English language for the very young.

Band

Purple · Pre-readers and first readers, about 4 to 5

Length

short · about 346 words in 4 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Just so stories, Rudyard Kipling · Project Gutenberg

First published

1902

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 (6 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.