A retelling of How the Camel Got His Hump from Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Once upon a time, a camel named Humphrey lived in a big sandy desert. Humphrey the Camel was very lazy and didn’t like to do any work.
One day, the Horse came galloping over to Humphrey. “Come play with us!” neighed Horse. But grumpy Humphrey just said, “Huuuuumph!”

Then along came Dog, wagging his tail. “Wanna help us dig in the sand?” barked Dog. But “Huuuuumph!” was all Humphrey had to say.
After that, Ollie the Ox said, “We could use a strong friend like you to pull wagons with us.” But do-nothing, Humphrey said another big “Huuuumph!”
All the animal friends were sad. They wanted Humphrey to have fun, too!
Just then, a magical genie appeared in a swirl of sand! “Why so grumpy, Humphrey? Don’t you want to have fun and work with your friends?” asked the genie. And what do you think the Camel said? You got it; he said, “Huuuumph!” once again!

But then, a wobbly hump sprouted on Humphrey’s back. It was round like a giant marshmallow.
“That’s your very own ‘humph,’ a snack pack just for you!” said the genie. “Now you can work for days without getting hungry.”
Humphrey the camel liked his new hump. He decided to join his friends and help out.

And that’s why camels have humps today. They use them to carry food and water in the hot desert.
Remember, little one, helping others can be super duper fun, way more fun than being grumpy all alone!
0 Comments