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Read Just So Stories in English — and understand every line.

Read “Just So Stories” by Rudyard Kipling in English. Tap any word for its meaning, hear how it sounds, and save it to a memory-driven review schedule.

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Author
Rudyard Kipling
Level
B1
Length
~35k words
Reading time
~3 h
Translation
Built-in dictionary
read.langorbit.com / se-kipling-just-so-stories
Just So StoriesRudyard Kipling · B1
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DICTIONARY

cherish
verb

TRANSLATION

apreciar, atesorar

to feel warm affection for; to hold something dear.

She cherishes the memory of her grandmother.
Atesora el recuerdo de su abuela.

Tap a word for its translation and part of speech — then save it to your list.

The opening

How “Just So Stories” begins

The week after Taffimai Metallumai (we will still call her Taffy, Best Beloved) made that little mistake about her Daddy’s spear and the Stranger-man and the picture-letter and all, she went carp-fishing again with her Daddy.

Her Mummy wanted her to stay at home and help hang up hides to dry on the big drying-poles outside their Neolithic Cave, but Taffy slipped away down to her Daddy quite early, and they fished.

Presently she began to giggle, and her Daddy said, “Don’t be silly, child.”

“But wasn’t it inciting!” said Taffy.

Public domain — the whole book is yours to read in the app.

Vocabulary

Words to know before you start

The 30 words you will meet most often in “Just So Stories” at level B1 and above, with how many times each one appears.

  • cave B2 · ×66
  • magician B1 · ×50
  • tail B1 · ×47
  • eldest B1 · ×47
  • magic B1 · ×44
  • leopard B2 · ×41
  • spear B1 · ×39
  • shell B1 · ×34
  • kangaroo B2 · ×33
  • camel B1 · ×31
  • crocodile B2 · ×31
  • stranger B1 · ×30
  • stamp B2 · ×30
  • enemy B1 · ×28
  • whale B1 · ×28
  • hedgehog C1 · ×28
  • tribe B2 · ×27
  • wise B2 · ×27
  • beaver B1 · ×24
  • wave B1 · ×23
  • giraffe B1 · ×23
  • solid B1 · ×22
  • zebra B2 · ×21
  • canoe C1 · ×20
  • spot B1 · ×19
  • chief B2 · ×19
  • magic B1 · ×19
  • scratch B2 · ×18
  • mud B1 · ×17
  • truly B2 · ×16

The meanings here are the everyday ones. In the reader, tap a word to see the sense this sentence uses.

Grammar

Grammar you will meet in “Just So Stories”

How much of each kind of grammar “Just So Stories” uses, counted in the sentences the Reader marks: per 10,000 words, compared with the other books in the library.

  • Relative clauses 49 per 10,000 words
  • Perfect tenses 43 per 10,000 words
  • Modal verbs 34 per 10,000 words
  • Reported speech 31 per 10,000 words · more than most books
  • Passive voice 29 per 10,000 words
  • -ing forms and to-infinitives 24 per 10,000 words
  • Phrasal verbs 19 per 10,000 words · less than most books
  • Conditionals 14 per 10,000 words · more than most books

Constructions to look for

  • Phrasal verb with on/off B1 · 39 sentences “Say that again and I’ll whistle up Dingo and run your hind legs off.
  • Subject relative clause with who/that/which B1 · 113 sentences I am the Cat who walks by himself, and I wish to come into your cave.
  • -ing clause as adverbial (Feeling tired, …) B1 · 34 sentences The Man and the Woman are both inside the Cave eating their dinner.

Counted the way the Reader shows it: one card per construction in a sentence. Open the book in the Reader and tap a highlighted phrase to see the rule.

Library

What you get while you read

  • Tap to translate

    Tap any word to see what it means in this exact sentence — with pronunciation and a clear example.

  • Save what matters

    Add a word and it comes back on a spaced-repetition schedule timed to how memory actually works.

  • Grammar in context

    Notable structures light up in the text, with a short explanation tied to the sentence you're reading.

About the book

Why Just So Stories is a great book to read in English

How the camel got his hump, how the elephant got his trunk, how the alphabet was invented — Kipling's origin tales were written to be read aloud, full of rhythm and repeated phrases. That repetition is a gift to early learners: the patterns teach themselves.

On LangOrbit you read “Just So Stories” with a safety net: the translation is one tap away when a sentence runs long, every word opens its meaning in context and can be saved for spaced-repetition review, and the grammar behind the trickier lines is explained right where you meet it.

Just So Stories

Read “Just So Stories” by Rudyard Kipling in English. Tap any word for its meaning, hear how it sounds, and save it to a memory-driven review schedule.

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