"Once upon a time O best beloved," and so begins one of the best loved and most respected collections of stories for children, Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories. This edition includes the author's own unique illustrations. Kipling's bold linear fantasies, in the style of art nouveau, as well as his attention to realistic detail, create an intriguing and strikingly different interpretation. One glance at the table of contents will reveal that the Just So Stories appeal most to inquisitive and fantasy-loving minds. Written in a jocular and fanciful style, with internal rhymes and lyrical phrases, these Just So Stories demand to be read aloud. Kipling's tales tell us how "it was so -- just so -- a little time ago --" and not so long ago that we cannot continue to be amused and beguiled by these stories of the "high and far off times" of Rudyard Kipling. - Jacket flap.