Just So Stories

The tales in Just So Stories contain a series of lessons to teach young readers about living with morality and integrity. The stories condemn vices like pride, laziness, and selfishness while celebrating virtues like hard work, obedience, humility, and curiosity. The characters in the stories are punished for their vices and rewarded for their virtues, illustrating the ethical code that one should live by in human society.

Most of the Just So Stories warn against pride, gluttony, and vanity. They teach that one should not be entitled or boastful and must avoid a sense of superiority over others. The Camel, for example, is “most ‘scruciating idle” (4) in the desert while the other animals are working hard for Man, doing everything that needs to be done at the start of the world. This is unfair to the other animals, and he is punished with his hump. Similarly, the Crab feels very important when he learns how much he has been disturbing the sea with his movements, but he is taught humility by losing his protective shell for one month every year. The Kangaroo is another particularly prideful character: When he asks to be made special and “different from all other animals” (24), the God Nqong makes him the victim of a practical joke, illustrating how pride makes individuals vulnerable.