Sincere thanks to those who have given me their support and encouragement and helped to make Just When Stories a reality: Simon at Beautiful Books for his belief; Sara and Ryan at Beautiful Books; Davy, David and Chris at Heavy Entertainment; Gui Altmayer at the Environmental Justice Foundation; Jonathon Harmsworth; George Thwaites; Fee Kennedy; Anna Phillips; Bob Benton and Steve Trent. Amber Rust who has been at my right hand over the last months.
Thanks to all the truly inspired children who entered the Just When Writing Competition whose work could make a wonderful book in itself.
So many thanks for writing Just When Stories go to William Boyd, Louisa Young, Romesh Gunesekera, Nirmal Ghosh, Raffaella Barker, Witi Ihimaera, Radhika Jha, Hanif Kureishi, Antonia Michaelis, Michael Morpurgo, Jin Pyn Lee, Lauren St John, Kate Thompson, Nury Vittachi, Angela Young, Polly Samson and Alice Newitt.
Thank you to Romola Gerai, Eddie Redmayne, Hugh Bonnerville, David Tennant and Martin Jarvis who have recorded stories for the Just When Audio CD and extra thanks to Hugh for making it happen. Everyone has donated their time, effort and work at no cost.
Thanks to Maria Livings for her stunning illustrations.
Thanks to you for buying this book. All profits will go to WildAid and the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, to support their work to stop the illegal wildlife trade.
The idea for Just When Stories came to me while reading Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling to my children.
As my son delighted in the rhinoceros with itchy skin, I thought about the plight of the rhino today. When Kipling wrote his stories, rhino numbers stood at around 65,000. Today, less than 3,000 black rhinos survive.
Despite the fact that the trade in rhino horn has been banned for more than twenty years, demand for horn for use in traditional Chinese medicine remains strong.
Rhinos remain one of the most critically endangered species on the planet.
The rhinoceros, whale and leopard that feature at the heart of Kipling’s Just So Stories now face imminent, permanent oblivion.
With Just When Stories I wanted to produce a book that would raise awareness of these issues as well as being a collection of stories that would be fun and entertaining.
The title Just When Stories asks the questions: when will the irrational and cruel destruction of wildlife stop? And when will we take action to make it stop?
We need to answer that positively if today’s generation of children are not to be the very last to have the chance to see, for example, a tiger in the wild.
Estimated at between $6 and $20 billion a year by Interpol, the illegal wildlife trade has drastically reduced numerous wildlife populations and currently has some teetering on the brink of extinction.
I have campaigned against the international illegal trade in endangered species since 1990. I think my energy comes from my mother Lana. During her short life, she campaigned passionately on behalf of women, despite the pressures of ill health. A love of animals comes perhaps from the lap of my grandfather, the British zoologist Sir James Gray, renowned for his work in animal locomotion and the development of experimental zoology. In particular Grandpa Gray is remembered for the Gray’s Paradox on dolphin locomotion.
My early work as a photographer for the RSPCA led, at the age of 21, to a decision to dedicate myself to campaigning on behalf of animals. I have worked for some of the world’s most effective and dynamic conservation organisations including The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation and WildAid. Within these organisations were and are some truly inspiring people, who I am honoured to have worked with over the years. People who work tirelessly, to undo the careless actions of a reckless world: Dave Currey, Allan Thornton, Pete Knights, Steve Trent, Rebecca Chen, Patrick Alley, Melanie Shepherd, David Shepherd, Steve Galster, Sue Fisher, Juliette Williams, Susie Watts, Dr Roz Reeve, Samantha Arditti, Debbie Banks amongst others, you ROCK.
As a mother of two children and a Trustee of WildAid, I wanted to make the book as appealing and accessible as possible. Each author has written a story in his or her own style and as such Just When Stories has become a family book. As the collection came together I realised that there would be a story for everyone.
My young daughter loves The Intrepid Dumpling’s Dugong Story. Others I would suggest for younger readers are: The Legend of Earthseasky, The Loris, The Bear Who Wasn’t There, Ladybirds for Lunch, And The Dolphin Smiled, A Dream of Cranes and Zushkaali and the Elephant.
For adults and teenagers I would guide you towards Camp K 101, Tiger, Tiger, The Schoolbag, George the Tortoise, The Seahorse and the Reef, A Duck in India, The Morning After and Birds.
I hope that you enjoy reading these stories as much as I have enjoyed working with such wonderful writers to put them together. Please give a thought to the animals in this book. Perhaps you can learn something new and be inspired to take action. Together we can protect our endangered species for today’s generation and the next.
My part in this book I dedicate to Elliot and Honor.
To my patient whippet Jake, more walks now I promise.