Read the whole story straight through. Tap 🔊 to listen along.
In the High and Far-Off Times, long, long ago, the Elephant had no trunk at all! He had only a bulgy black nose, no bigger than a boot. He could wiggle it from side to side, but he could not pick anything up with it.
In those days, there was an Elephant — a new Elephant — an Elephant's Child — who was full of 1 'satiable curtiosity. That means he asked EVER so many questions. He asked questions about everything that he saw, or heard, or felt, or smelt, or touched.
He asked his tall Aunt Ostrich why her tail feathers grew just so, and his tall Aunt Ostrich spanked him with her hard, hard claw. He asked his tall Uncle Giraffe what made his skin spotty, and his tall Uncle Giraffe spanked him with his hard, hard hoof.
He asked his broad Aunt Hippopotamus why her eyes were red, and his broad Aunt Hippopotamus spanked him with her broad, broad hoof. He asked his hairy Uncle Baboon why melons tasted just so, and his hairy Uncle Baboon spanked him with his hairy, hairy paw. STILL the Elephant's Child was full of 'satiable curtiosity!
One fine morning the Elephant's Child asked a new fine question that he had never asked before. He asked, "What does the Crocodile have for dinner?" Then everybody said, "Hush!" in a loud and dretful tone, and they spanked him at once and directly, without stopping, for a long time.
By and by, when that was finished, he met the Kolokolo Bird sitting in the middle of a wait-a-bit thorn-bush, and he said, "My father has spanked me, and my mother has spanked me; all my aunts and uncles have spanked me for my 'satiable curtiosity; and STILL I want to know what the Crocodile has for dinner!"
Then the Kolokolo Bird said, with a mournful cry, "Go to the banks of the great 2 grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees, and find out." So the Elephant's Child packed up a hundred pounds of bananas, a hundred pounds of sugar-cane, and seventeen melons, and set off to find the Crocodile.
On his way he met the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake, who was curled up around a tree. The Elephant's Child politely said, "Please, would you tell me where the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River is, all set about with fever-trees?" The Python did not know — but he warned the Elephant's Child to be very, very careful at the river.
At last he came to the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees. There he saw a log — only it was NOT a log. It was the Crocodile! The Elephant's Child politely asked, "Excuse me, but have you seen a Crocodile in these parts?" The Crocodile winked one eye and said, "Come closer, little one, and I will whisper it."
The Elephant's Child put his head down close to the Crocodile's teeth — and the Crocodile caught him by his little nose! "I think today I will begin with Elephant's Child for dinner!" said the Crocodile through his teeth.
The Elephant's Child sat back on his little haunches and PULLED, and PULLED, and PULLED. The Crocodile pulled too. The Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake came to help and pulled also. And the Elephant's Child's nose kept STRETCHING. It got longer and longer and LONGER — until at last the Crocodile let go with a plop!
The Elephant's Child sat down and sulked, because his nose was now a long trunk. But the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake pointed out the benefits: now he could pick fruit, scoop cool mud over his head, and even spank flies! The Elephant's Child went home very happy. And one by one, he spanked all his aunts and uncles who had spanked him. And ever since that day, all the elephants you will ever see have long trunks — exactly like the trunk of the 'satiable Elephant's Child!
Pick an answer to see if it's right. Fred will explain.
Now look at the WORDS, the CHARACTERS, and the EVIDENCE in the text.
Now look at HOW the author tells the story and the BIG lesson it teaches.
Every QUESTION ends with a question mark (?). The Elephant's Child asks SO MANY questions — that is what drives the whole story!
✏️ PRACTICE — Find the questions
🖊️ USE — Now you try
Fred will give you ⭐ stars (out of 3) and tell you how to make your answer even better.
Three tiers of words from the story, then a 4-round quiz to test what you know.
| Word | What it means (Grade-2 friendly) | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| curiosity | a strong wanting-to-know about something new | My curiosity made me open the door and peek inside. |
| persistence | keeping going even when something is hard | With persistence, she finished the long puzzle. |
| 'satiable | Kipling's word for insatiable — never satisfied, never enough | The Elephant's Child had a 'satiable curtiosity. |
| ambition | a big wish to do something important | Her ambition was to become a scientist. |
| sulk | to sit feeling grumpy and sad | He sat down to sulk after losing the game. |
| benefit | a good thing you GET from something | One benefit of practice is getting better. |
| brave | willing to do something hard even when you're scared | It was brave of him to keep asking questions. |
| transform | to change into something different | His tiny nose was transformed into a long trunk. |
| Word | Quick definition |
|---|---|
| elephant | a huge gray animal with a long trunk and big ears |
| child | a young person who is not yet a grown-up |
| trunk | the long bendy nose of an elephant |
| nose | the part of the face used for smelling |
| aunt | the sister of your mother or father |
| uncle | the brother of your mother or father |
| ostrich | a very tall bird from Africa that runs fast |
| giraffe | a tall African animal with a long neck and spots |
| hippopotamus | a big, heavy African animal that lives in rivers |
| baboon | a kind of large monkey with a long face |
| crocodile | a long water animal with sharp teeth |
| snake | a long, legless animal that slides |
| river | a long stretch of water that flows across the land |
| fever-tree | a kind of African tree that grows near rivers |
| banana | a long, yellow fruit |
| Word | Quick definition |
|---|---|
| haunches | the back legs and bottom of an animal |
| melon | a big round fruit, sweet and watery inside |
| sugar-cane | a tall plant that sugar is made from |
| mournful | sounding very sad |
| dretful | Kipling's playful spelling of "dreadful" — terrible |
| thorn-bush | a bush covered with sharp points (thorns) |
| greasy | slippery and slick, like with oil |
| boot | a tall shoe — Kipling says the old elephant nose was no bigger than one |
Play all four rounds. Each round tests the words in a new way!
The Most Amazing Nose in the World. A real elephant's trunk is one of the most amazing parts of any animal. It has about 40,000 muscles! (Your whole body has only about 600 muscles.) Because the trunk has so many muscles, it can bend, twist, and stretch in any direction.
What a Trunk Can Do. Elephants use their trunks to drink water (they suck it up like a straw), to eat leaves and fruit (they pick the food off trees), to smell things far away, to touch and hug other elephants, and to trumpet loud calls. A trunk is a nose, a hand, a hose, and a horn — all in one!
Two Kinds of Elephants. There are African elephants and Asian elephants. African elephants are bigger and have HUGE ears (shaped like the map of Africa). Asian elephants are a little smaller and have rounder ears. Both kinds have long trunks — but the African trunk has two finger-like tips, while the Asian trunk has only one.
Elephants Need Help. Real elephants do NOT get their trunks from crocodiles — they are born with them. But like the elephants in Kipling's story, real elephants live in places like Africa near rivers and trees. Some kinds of elephants are now 6 endangered. People are working hard to protect them.
Pick an answer to see if it's right. Fred will explain.
What Is Curiosity? Curiosity is the strong feeling of wanting to know about something new. When you ask "Why?" or "How?" or "What if?" — that's curiosity at work. Scientists say curious children LEARN FASTER because asking questions helps the brain remember things better.
Famous Curious People. Many of the world's greatest thinkers were SUPER curious as kids. Albert Einstein asked questions about light and time — and changed science forever. Marie Curie wondered about hidden energy in rocks — and discovered new elements. Jane Goodall wondered how chimpanzees lived — and went to Africa to find out.
Curiosity Makes Things Happen. Almost everything humans have invented came from someone being curious. Someone curious wondered, "How can we fly?" — and we got airplanes. Someone curious wondered, "Can we talk to people far away?" — and we got telephones. Someone curious wondered, "Why do apples fall?" — and we learned about gravity.
Keep Asking. Sometimes grown-ups get TIRED of questions, just like the Elephant's Child's relatives did. But don't stop! Curious people change the world. The next big idea — a new medicine, a new song, a new kind of school — might come from a question that YOU ask today.
A Writer Born Far Away. Rudyard Kipling was born in 1865 in the city of Bombay, in India. At that time, India was ruled by Britain, the country Kipling's family came from. Kipling grew up hearing stories from people from many cultures, and he loved them all. Later he became one of the most famous writers in the world.
Stories for Josephine. Kipling had a daughter named Josephine. She loved animal stories. Kipling made up tales for her — silly, rhythmic 7 pourquoi tales that explained how animals got their special features. Sadly, Josephine died when she was only six. Kipling wrote the Just So Stories book partly to honor her.
Twelve Famous Tales. The Just So Stories (1902) has TWELVE pourquoi tales. They explain things like how the whale got his throat, how the leopard got his spots, how the camel got his hump, and — of course — how the elephant got his trunk. Every story is full of REPETITION because Kipling told them OUT LOUD before writing them down.
Reading Kipling Today. Kipling's stories are still loved more than 100 years later because they sound like songs. But because he lived in a time when Britain RULED other countries, some of his other writing reflected old, unfair ideas. Readers today enjoy his Just So Stories while also knowing the world has learned a lot more about fairness since 1902.
Pick ONE writing prompt. Fred will give you stars and feedback. Every prompt uses P-E-E-L: Point → Evidence → Explain → Link.
Videos that build context for the fiction story OR teach more about the non-fiction topic (real elephants and trunks).
If the primary video isn't a good fit, here are vetted alternates:
These are for talking, not writing. Use them as a class share, a turn-and-talk with a partner, or a family chat at home.