How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin cover art

How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin

Preview
Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin

By: Rudyard Kipling
Narrated by: Ian Turrell
Try Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $3.59

Buy Now for $3.59

About this listen

In this sun-washed tale from Rudyard Kipling’s beloved Just So Stories, a badly behaved rhinoceros learns—quite literally—what it means to live in one’s own skin.

On a lonely island near the Red Sea, a meticulous Parsee bakes a magnificent cake, only to have it stolen and devoured by a rude, button-skinned rhinoceros with no manners to speak of. Weeks later, when the heat drives everyone to the water, the Parsee takes his quiet revenge—filling the rhinoceros’s discarded skin with crumbs that itch, tickle, and torment. What follows is a rolling, scratching, temper-spoiling transformation that explains, once and for all, why rhinoceroses wear their skin in great folds and carry such famously sour dispositions.

Witty, rhythmic, and gently sharp-edged, How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin is classic Kipling at his most mischievous—an origin story that delights in language, repetition, and consequence. Narrated by Ian Turrell, this performance honors the story’s Edwardian charm and sly humor, making it a timeless listen for children and adults alike.

Public Domain (P)2025 Anthony Pica Productions, LLC
Classics Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths Literature & Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.