Inspiration Rambling VII: Rudyard Kipling

      We can't talk about writers that have inspired me without talking about Joseph Rudyard Kipling. 

      As my Children were growing up I read to them every night, and Kipling's "Just so stories" collection was among the tales. My kids grew up and moved into separate rooms and told me they didn't need me to read to them anymore, the books got packed away. 

They were found again recently and my two oldest sat flipping thought the page's laughing and retelling the stories they loved to hear the most. I loved the poetic way he wrote to children, you could trust the word's to send you into another world. 

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English writer, and was born in British India (Bombay) in 1865. His Father was a sculptor and , was the Principal and Professor of Architectural Sculpture. Being raised in an artistic home its no wonder that He was given the Nobel prize in literature and still remains the youngest recipient, as well as the highest paid British writer of his time. He is known for his collection of short story's, poems and novels  and is most known for his children story's, among them being The Jungle book, Just so stories and others.

He once lived in America then moved back to England, upon returning to America to visit his Wife's Mother, he and his daughter became very ill. He survived, but his daughter didn't. Nobody had the heart to tell him until he was fully recovered, and even then his publisher had to break him the news to him because nobody else was able to. The news broke his heart and he discontinued writing children story's. He wrote his "just so" As bedtime stories for his daughter and she liked them told "just so." The collection holds some of my favorite children tales such as the butterfly that stamped, the cat that walked by himself and the beginning of armadillos.



I love how he writes to children, and addressees them in the prose as "best beloved "and "my little one", and "now you will see what happens my best beloved". The fantastic tales woven with mythology about the creation of the world and the animals are written as a type of lyric rather then traditional writing.



Thank you  J. Rudyard Kipling.