The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle

Posted by Rebekah
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Award Winner, Birds, Doctor Dolittle, Dogs, Fish, Funny, Hugh Lofting, Mice, Monkeys, Pigs
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This is the story of how Tommy Stubbins, the son of Jacob Stubbins, the shoemaker, first met the Doctor and became his assistant. Soon after Tommy begins to learn some animal language, a purple bird of paradise named Miranda arrives to tell Doctor Dolittle that Long Arrow, a great Indian naturalist, is missing. Doctor Dolittle decides to take a voyage, even though he won’t be able to meet Long Arrow. To decide where to go, they play a game called Blind Travel. They end up choosing the very spot that Long Arrow was last seen in, Spider Monkey Island. They set off at once with Bumpo, Crown Prince of the Jolliginki; Jip the dog; Polynesia the parrot and Chee-Chee the monkey and encounter some wonderful adventures.

There’s something about the Doctor Dolittle stories that I really like. They are so much fun. I left half the book out of the review, as it would take a really long review, not to mention give some of it away, if I told you all of the wonderful details. Some of the animals are great, and the Wiff-Waff is so funny, not to mention fun to say. “Wiff-Waff.” Anyway, I enjoyed this book a lot.

The Story of Dr. Dolittle

Posted by Jordan
Categories: Adventure, All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Birds, Dogs, Funny, Good Read Aloud, Hugh Lofting, Mice, Monkeys, Pigs, Rats, Seafaring
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Our rating:

Dr. Dolittle is the best doctor ever, but none of his patients will come because of his animal pets (think crocodiles!). Because of this, he can’t make any money. So his parrot teaches him how to speak to Jip, the dog. The doctor is eager to learn, and learns to talk to all his pets. All the animals hear about it, and come to him, and the house is crowded. Then a swallow comes with news of an epidemic among monkeys in Africa. Can Dr. Dolittle make it through storms, pirates and angry natives to help the monkeys?

Ah, Hugh Lofting has such a fun way of writing humorous, exciting stories. I didn’t even mention Gub-Gub, the food loving pig; Too-Too, the owl with a head for figures; or the cute little White Mouse who lives in the piano. Worth reading again and again.

Note: There has been a lot of controversy about Lofting’s books, because some people thought they were racist. Because of this, some newer editions don’t have portions that editors thought were offensive. I will say that I have read the originals, and found nothing wrong with them, merely a slight British patriotic spirit. If you want to read the originals, your library will be more likely to have them than the book store.