The Listening Grove · Just So Stories
Chapter 5: The Elephant’s Child
A Charlotte Mason read-aloud lesson. Press play, with the lesson.
What is Just So Stories Chapter 5, The Elephant’s Child, about?Parent review
Just So Stories Chapter 5, The Elephant’s Child, is Rudyard Kipling’s tale of a young Elephant, in the days before elephants had trunks, who was full of ’satiable curtiosity and asked ever so many questions. When he asked what the Crocodile has for dinner, everyone spanked him, so Kolokolo Bird sent him to the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River to find out. There the Crocodile caught him by his little nose and pulled, while the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake pulled from the other side, until the nose stretched into a long trunk. The Elephant’s Child soon found how useful his new trunk was, and he went home to show all his dear families.
Say what you remember!
Tell what you remember from the last story.
What happened in Just So Stories Chapter 4, How the Leopard Got His Spots?Have a look
In Chapter 4, How the Leopard Got His Spots, the Giraffe and the Zebra left the bare High Veldt for a shadowy forest, where they grew blotchy and stripy and could hardly be seen. Following Baviaan’s advice, the Ethiopian changed his skin, and pressed his fingertips all over the Leopard to give him spots, so both could hunt in the forest.
Read the previous lesson: How the Leopard Got His Spots →Show what you know!
Say what you think each word means, then click to check your answers and learn some new words today.
What are the difficult or advanced vocabulary words in Just So Stories Chapter 5, The Elephant’s Child?precedent, limpid, vitiate, PachydermHave a look
- precedent: something done before that serves as an example
- limpid: clear enough to see through
- vitiate: to spoil or make faulty
- Pachyderm: a thick-skinned animal like an elephant or rhinoceros
The Books come Alive!
Read or listen to Chapter 5 of Just So Stories, the Kindred Thicket Classic Edition.
Read by Phil Chenevert for LibriVox (public domain), adjusted and trimmed by Kindred Thicket.
Memory becomes Action!
Use the names below to remember and spell tricky names. Choose one way to narrate.
What is the list of names, people, characters, and places that are important in Chapter 5 of Just So Stories?The Elephant's Child, The Crocodile, The Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake, Kolokolo Bird, The Limpopo River, The Hippopotamus, The OstrichHave a look
- The Elephant's Child: A new Elephant full of 'satiable curtiosity, the first with a trunk.
- The Crocodile: The musky, tusky beast lying like a log on the Limpopo bank.
- The Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake: The long-worded snake of the Limpopo bank and a helpful friend.
- Kolokolo Bird: The mournful bird of the wait-a-bit thorn-bush, giver of directions.
- The Limpopo River: The great grey-green, greasy river all set about with fever-trees.
- The Hippopotamus: The Elephant's Child's broad aunt with the red eyes.
- The Ostrich: The Elephant's Child's tall aunt with the hard, hard claw.
Chapter 5 Q & A
This is a Kindred Thicket Classic Edition, with Kipling’s words kept as he wrote them. Here are answers to questions families often ask about this story.
How did the elephant get its trunk?
In Kipling’s story, the Crocodile caught the Elephant’s Child by his little nose and pulled, and the Elephant’s Child pulled back, until his nose stretched into a long trunk.
What does “’satiable curtiosity” mean?
It is Kipling’s playful way of saying insatiable curiosity, a curiosity that is never satisfied. The Elephant’s Child asked questions about everything he saw, heard, felt, smelt, or touched.
Who helped the Elephant’s Child escape the Crocodile?
The Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake knotted himself around the Elephant’s Child’s hind legs and pulled, until the Crocodile let go.
Is the Limpopo a real river?
Yes. The Limpopo River flows through southern Africa into the Indian Ocean. Kipling calls it “the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees.”
Who is Kolokolo Bird?
Kolokolo Bird sits in a wait-a-bit thorn-bush and tells the Elephant’s Child to go to the Limpopo River to find out what the Crocodile has for dinner. When the Elephant’s Child came home, he never let anyone touch Kolokolo Bird.