The Story of Doctor Doolittle: being the history of his peculiar life at home and astonishing adventures in foreign parts

Hugh Lofting

Jan 1920 · Frederick A. Stokes Company

About this ebook

Dolittle is an English gentleman who finds himself in the wrong occupation, a doctor of people, and gradually withdraws from society becoming a poor down and out town recluse. One day his English speaking pet parrot Polynesia lets him in on a secret that animals have a language of their own. Dolittle, now able to understand the complaints of animals, becomes a successful and world-renowned doctor of animals. Animal language is the central device of the series - in an age when every Disney film features English speaking animals it seems almost normal, but Lofting makes it seem new and marvelous. Indeed, the animals don

Ratings and reviews

This was a very, very good book. I would recommend it to anyone older than seven, but only because anyone younger might not understand it. There is a little bit of racism in it, but because this was written in the 1920's, this is typical of the times. All in all, one of the best books I have ever read.

I read this book wanting to remember what the story I listened to when I was younger was about. The version I was given was either censored slightly or everything went over my head because there were things said that aren't acceptable today. I was more surprised at how simple, and sometimes silly, the book was because I remember it making complete sense when I was little. That being said, I still enjoyed it. I was surprised how much I remembered.

Great story, you just have to forget the movie! Keep in mind the age in which the story was written. The rude parts are only near the beginning. The rest of the story is clean, with the silliness of talking animals.