Rudyard Kipling used to tell his daughter, Josephine, stories in which he invented funny answers for such questions as "How did the camel get his hump?" and "How did the leopard get his spots?". In 1902 he compiled them into a book called Just So Stories, because his daughter insisted on them being told "just so".
The stories end in amusing poems that summarise the stories themselves. Another of the Just So Stories was called "The cat that walked by himself." It tells us the reasons why many people prefer dogs to cats.

Double-click on any word and see its definition from Cambridge Dictionaries Online.

Read the poem then try a comprehension activity and a vocabulary activity. Finally, try some writing yourself.

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The cat that walked by himself

PUSSY can sit by the fire and sing,
Pussy can climb a tree,
Or play with a silly old cork and string
To'muse herself, not me.
But I like Binkie my dog, because
He knows how to behave;
So, Binkie's the same as the First Friend was,
And I am the Man in the Cave.

Pussy will play man-Friday till
It's time to wet her paw
And make her walk on the window-sill
(For the footprint Crusoe saw);
Then she fluffles her tail and mews,
And scratches and won't attend.
But Binkie will play whatever I choose,
And he is my true First Friend.

Pussy will rub my knees with her head
Pretending she loves me hard;
But the very minute I go to my bed
Pussy runs out in the yard,
And there she stays till the morning-light;
So I know it is only pretend;
But Binkie, he snores at my feet all night,
And he is my Firstest Friend!

Rudyard Kipling

Your turn

Write a Just So story and/or a poem. Your poem could stand alone or it could go with a story. Why not write about "How the snake got its poisonous bite" or "How the rabbit got its long ears" or any other Just So story and/or poem you can think of? Send us your text.