Before letters had names and words had shapes, pictures tried to speak for us.

In this playful and warmly imaginative tale from Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling tells how writing came into the world—not through careful planning, but through a child’s loving attempt to help her father.

When Tegumai breaks his spear beside the river, his clever daughter Taffy decides to send a message home. Unable to write words, she draws pictures instead—simple marks meant to explain, but easily misunderstood. What follows is a cascade of confusion, comedy, and discovery, as pictures begin their long journey toward becoming letters.

Full of humor, gentle irony, and Kipling’s signature storytelling voice, How the First Letter Was Written is a timeless origin story about communication, imagination, and how great inventions often begin by accident.

Narrated with warmth and clarity by Eric A. Grimes, this classic tale invites listeners of all ages into a world where curiosity comes first, meaning follows later, and even the smallest idea can change everything.