A collection of stories, drawn from the tales Kipling's Indian nurses told to him, in which Kipling creates the enchantment of the dawn of the world, when animals could talk and think like people. The laziness of the Camel, the curiosity of the Elephant Child, the cleverness of the hedgehog, the confusions of the Painted Jaguar and all the rest of Kipling's delightful menagerie come alive.