"Veikeitä juttuja pienille lapsille" by Rudyard Kipling is a collection of origin stories published in 1902. These playful tales explain how animals acquired their distinctive features—why the whale has a tiny throat, how the camel got his hump, and how the leopard got his spots. Originally told as bedtime stories to Kipling's daughter, each story had to be recited "just so" or she would complain. The collection includes whimsical explanations involving magical beings, persistent animals, and even cave-people inventing the alphabet, all illustrated by Kipling himself. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
These books are free to read. Each is in the public domain in the United States; check your own country's rules before you copy or share one.
