How the Whale Got His Throat

A story retold from Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling

This story comes from Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1902. Kipling wrote these tales to explain, in a playful way, how animals came to look or behave as they do. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. The story shows how cleverness and resourcefulness can solve a problem that strength alone cannot, and it reminds young readers that actions have consequences that last.

Band

Yellow · Emerging readers, about 6 to 8

Length

medium · about 551 words in 5 sections · 4 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 (8 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Colouring page

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.