Ted Hughes: How the Whale Became (paperback)
Ted Hughes: How the Whale Became (cassette tape)
How the Whale Became and Other Stories
Author: Hughes, Ted
Published by Faber & Faber, 1963
US ed.: Atheneon, 1964
Illustrations: George Adamson (UK 1963); Rick Schreiter (US 1964), Jackie Morris (Faber 2000).
This is Hughes's first collection of stories and Creation Tales for children. Its genesis goes back to the fifties (!) since when versions of it had repeatedly been rejected by publishers. It may be for that reason, that some of its stories are much like a mix of Aesopian fables and Kipling's Just So Stories while others point to the genuine direction of Hughes's later Creation tales. The book contains such classic tales for children as "How the Whale Became" and "How the Bee Became". It is also available as an AudioBook.
See also 
Tales of the Early World, Muck and Magic and The Dreamfighter. All the Creation Tales from these two volumes and How the Whale Became have been collected in on volume, confusingly also titled The Dreamfighter and Other Creation Tales.
Contents:
- ("Long ago when the world was brand new ...")
- Why the Owl Behaves as it does
- How the Whale Became
- How the Fox Came to be where it is
- How the Polar Bear Became
- How the Hyena Became
- How the Tortoise Became
- How the Bee Became
- How the Cat Became
- How the Donkey Became
- How the Hare Became
- How the Elephant Became