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    The Story of Doctor Dolittle
    The Story of Doctor Dolittle
    The Story of Doctor Dolittle
    Ebook129 pages1 hour

    The Story of Doctor Dolittle

    By Hugh Lofting and Phillip Ardagh

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector’s Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector’s Library are books to love and treasure.

    Doctor Dolittle is one of the most delightful and fascinating characters in children’s literature. This Macmillan Collector’s Library edition of The Story of Doctor Dolittle is illustrated with Hugh Lofting’s own drawings, and includes updated material and an afterword by author Philip Ardagh.

    Doctor Dolittle’s house in Puddleby-on-the-Marsh is full to the brim with eccentric characters, from Polynesia the parrot to Gub-Gub the pig. After learning the languages of all his animals, the gracious and kind-hearted doctor hears that the monkeys in Africa have become inflicted with a terrible disease. So with a team of trusty creatures by his side, the doctor sets sail on an action-packed adventure to save them.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPan Macmillan
    Release dateSep 6, 2018
    ISBN9781509899852
    Author

    Hugh Lofting

    Hugh Lofting was born in Maidenhead in 1886. He studied engineering in London and America and his work as a civil engineer took him all over the world. He interrupted his career to enlist in the army and fight in the First World War. Wanting to shield his children from the horrors of combat, including the fate of horses on the battlefield, he wrote to them instead about a kindly doctor who could talk to animals. After the war he settled with his family in Connecticut and it was from there that he published his Doctor Dolittle books. The Story of Doctor Dolittle was published in 1920, followed by twelve more in the series. The highly acclaimed author died in 1947.

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    Reviews for The Story of Doctor Dolittle

    3.5/5

    504 ratings10 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Yes there is some racial language found in this delightful story of a doctor who can talk with animals. But keeping in mind this was written in 1920 it is the perfect book to educate our children on how far or how little we've come since then.
    • 4/5
      The story of Dr. Dolittle who is abandoned by his human patients because of all his pets. He is then abandoned by his animal patients because he refuses to give up his pet crocodile. His money is all gone, his sister leaves him to get married, and he is on the point of being unable to feed his animals. He must get to Africa because the monkeys there are suffering from a terrible disease. The story is about his adventures in Africa and his eventual return to Puddleby-on-the-Marsh.I reread this as an adult and enjoyed it every bit as much as I did when I was a child. The magical notion of talking animals never gets tired for me. Some of the aspects of the story are noticeably dated, but it comes by it honestly enough.
    • 3/5
      The first book in the Doctor Dolittle series. Doctor Dolittle is a terrible physician. He's good at his job, but no patients will ever come visit him because he has too many animals. So, he decides to become a veterinarian. Unlike the Eddie Murphy version, the originial Doctor Dolittle gains the ability to speak to and understand animals through kindness (so the animals will be willing to talk to him) and a lot of hard work. One day, a monkey comes to visit and informs the doctor that all of the monkeys in Africa are getting sick. So, the doctor and a few of his favorite animal companions sail to Africa to help them.The whole Doctor Dolittle series is exactly what you'd expect it to be: great if you like classic kids' books; probably pretty boring if you don't.
    • 5/5
      I first read The Story of Doctor Dolittle when I was a young child. It is definitely an all-time-favourite of mine. The storytelling is superb, and there are lots of great characters. I really liked Polynesia, the parrot, and the extraordinary 'PUSHMI-PULLYU' - What fantastic imagination! - I'm still hoping to meet one!

      I'm going to read this story again soon! A complete review to follow.

      Recommended reading for young children and fun-loving adults too!
    • 4/5
      This is an abridged version of the classic story of the doctor who can talk to animals, and who embarks on a rescue mission to Africa. The illustrations are reminiscent of the book I recall, although not the same. The story, too, follows the same path but is less long-winded and somewhat more politically correct than the original. There are still some generalisations and more than a hint of the racism that rather dogged the books as originally written almost a century ago. Nonetheless it's an excellent story, one that has appealed to children (and adults!) for a long time. I read it aloud to my four-year-old grandson, who has heard it before and no doubt will hear it again. I thought it excellent as an adaptation, a great introduction to a series which I hope my grandson will read for himself when he's older.
    • 3/5
      I didn't fall in love with this book. I like to introduce our kids to lasting literature, classics, if you will. I want them to be well-rounded. To complete having read this book we will also watch the original movie with Rex Harrison and then also the newer version with Eddie Murphy.
    • 3/5
      The first book in a series of children's novels about a man who learns to talk to animals and travels the world to help them out. I recently re-watched the 1967 movie since it was a childhood favorite of mine and it's still quite good (although why they cast Rex Harrison - who can't sing to save his life - in a musical is beyond me), but I realized I had never actually read any of the books so I picked this one up to give it a try. It's quite entertaining and especially the animals have some nice lines, but beware than it's quite racist by today's standards, e.g. featuring an African prince who asks Dolittle to turn him white since Sleeping Beauty won't marry him because he's black. It's not a series I mean to continue, but it was fun to have tried one installment. David Case is not a great reader, so I'd suggest not going for his audio-version.
    • 3/5
      A classic children's adventure story; Dr Doolittle and his friends travel to Africa to help the monkeys. Beware though, this writing is very much of its age and the vocabulary used (and some of the opinions expressed) should be taken with a generous pinch of salt.
    • 1/5
      Racist and not that well-written, and there's very little depth to the characters. And after dealing with in-laws who have a blase attitude toward money (i.e. more will just magically appear when you need it), I found the Doctor's passiveness and impracticality very frustrating. This merits a star only because there are a few charming moments, such as the horse who gets green sunglasses to wear in the fields. (Read out loud at bedtime, under duress.)
    • 3/5
      The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting is the imaginative and humorous first novel in the Voyages of Doctor Dolittle series. Thanks to his intelligent parrot Polynesia, Doctor Dolittle learns how to talk to animals. Because he has these unique skills, he becomes an animal doctor, and along the way helps countless animals.Although a very simple story, written in a simple way - the way children would understand - The Story of Doctor Dolittle was excellent. Full of adventure and humor, you will not be able to put this book down. The characters, especially the animals, come to vivid life, and practically leap of the page to trot, swing, or pad through your living room! The Story of Doctor Dolittle is good for the young, and the young-at-heart..

    Book preview

    The Story of Doctor Dolittle - Hugh Lofting

    THE FAREWELL FEAST

    ‘After they had all finished eating the Doctor got up’

    Contents

    1. Puddleby

    2. Animal-Language

    3. More Money Troubles

    4. A Message from Africa

    5. The Great Journey

    6. Polynesia and the King

    7. The Bridge of Apes

    8. The Leader of the Lions

    9. The Monkeys’ Council

    10. The Rarest Animal of All

    11. The Black Prince

    12. Medicine & Magic

    13. Red Sails and Blue Wings

    14. The Rats’ Warning

    15. The Barbary Dragon

    16. Too-Too, the Listener

    17. The Ocean Gossips

    18. Smells

    19. The Rock

    20. The Fisherman’s Town

    21. Home Again

    A Note About the Text

    Afterword

    1. Puddleby

    Once upon a time, many years ago – when our grandfathers were little children – there was a doctor; and his name was Dolittle – John Dolittle, M.D. M.D. means that he was a proper doctor and knew a whole lot.

    He lived in a little town called Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. All the folks, young and old, knew him well by sight. And whenever he walked down the street in his high hat every one would say, There goes the Doctor! – he’s a clever man. And the dogs and the children would all run up and follow behind him; and even the crows that lived in the church-tower would caw and nod their heads.

    The house he lived in, on the edge of the town, was quite small; but his garden was very large and had a wide lawn and stone seats and weeping-willows hanging over. His sister, Sarah Dolittle, was housekeeper for him; but the Doctor looked after the garden himself.

    ‘A little town called Puddleby-on-the-Marsh’

    He was very fond of animals and kept many kinds of pets. Besides the gold-fish in the pond at the bottom of his garden, he had rabbits in the pantry, white mice in his piano, a squirrel in the linen closet and a hedgehog in the cellar. He had a cow with a calf too, and an old lame horse – twenty-five years of age – and chickens, and pigeons, and two lambs, and many other animals. But his favourite pets were Dab-Dab the duck, Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the baby pig, Polynesia the parrot, and the owl Too-Too.

    His sister used to grumble about all these animals, and said they made the house untidy. And one day when an old lady with rheumatism came to see the Doctor, she sat on the hedgehog who was sleeping on the sofa and never came to see him any more, but drove every Saturday all the way to Oxenthorpe, another town ten miles off, to see a different doctor.

    Then his sister, Sarah Dolittle, came to him and said:

    John, how can you expect patients to come and see you when you keep all these animals in the house? It’s a fine doctor would have his parlour full of hedgehogs and mice! That’s the fourth person these animals have driven away. Squire Jenkins and the Parson say they wouldn’t come near your house again – no matter how ill they are. We are getting poorer every day. If you go on like this, none of the best people will have you for a doctor.

    But I like the animals better than the ‘best people’, said the Doctor.

    ‘And she never came to see him any more’

    You are ridiculous, said his sister, and walked out of the room.

    So, as time went on, the Doctor got more and more animals; and the people who came to see him got less and less. Till at last he had no one left – except the Cat’s-meat-Man, who didn’t mind any kind of animals. But the Cat’s-meat-Man wasn’t very rich, and he only got sick once a year – at Christmas-time – when he used to give the Doctor sixpence for a bottle of medicine.

    Sixpence a year wasn’t enough to live on – even in those days, long ago; and if the Doctor hadn’t had some money saved up in his money-box, no one knows what would have happened.

    And he kept on getting still more pets; and of course it cost a lot to feed them. And the money he had saved up grew littler and littler.

    Then he sold his piano, and let the mice live in a bureau-drawer. But the money he got for that too began to go, so he sold the brown suit he wore on Sundays and went on becoming poorer and poorer.

    And now, when he walked down the street in his high hat, people would say to one another, There goes John Dolittle, M.D.! There was a time when he was the best known doctor in the West Country – look at him now – he hasn’t any money and his stockings are full of holes!

    But the dogs and the cats and the children still ran up and followed him through the town – the same as they had done when he was rich.

    2. Animal-Language

    It happened one day that the Doctor was sitting in his kitchen talking with the Cat’s-meat-Man who had come to see him with a stomach-ache.

    Why don’t you give up being a people’s doctor, and be an animal-doctor? asked the Cat’s-meat-Man.

    The parrot, Polynesia, was sitting in the window looking out at the rain and singing a sailor-song to herself. She stopped singing and started to listen.

    You see, Doctor, the Cat’s-meat-Man went on, "you know all about animals – much more than what these here vets do. That book you wrote – about cats, why, it’s wonderful! I can’t read or write myself – or maybe I’d write some books. But my wife, Theodosia, she’s a scholar, she is. And she read your book to me. Well, it’s wonderful – that’s all can be said – wonderful. You might have been a cat yourself. You know the way they think. And listen: you can make a lot of money doctoring animals. Do you know that? You see, I’d send all the old women who had sick cats or dogs to you. And if they didn’t get ill fast enough, I could put something in the meat I sell ’em to make ’em bad, see?"

    Oh no, said the Doctor quickly. You mustn’t do that. That wouldn’t be right.

    Oh, I didn’t mean real bad, answered the Cat’s-meat-Man. Just a little something to make them droopy-like was what I had reference to. But as you say, maybe it ain’t quite fair on the animals. But they’ll get ill, anyway, because the old women always give ’em too much to eat. And look, all the farmers round about who had lame horses and weak lambs – they’d come. Be an animal-doctor.

    When the Cat’s-meat-Man had gone the parrot flew off the window onto the Doctor’s table and said:

    "That man’s got sense. That’s what you ought to do. Be an animal-doctor. Give the silly people up – if they haven’t brains enough to see you’re the best doctor in the world. Take care of animals instead – they’ll soon find it out. Be an animal-doctor."

    Oh, there are plenty of animal-doctors, said John Dolittle, putting the flower-pots outside on the window-sill to get the rain.

    "Yes, there are plenty, said Polynesia. But none of them are any good at all. Now listen, Doctor, and I’ll tell you something. Did you know that animals can talk?"

    I knew that parrots can talk, said the Doctor.

    Oh, we parrots can talk in two languages – people’s language and bird-language, said Polynesia proudly. "If I say, ‘Polly wants a biscuit,’ you understand me. But hear this: Ka-ka oi-ee, fee-fee?"

    Good gracious! cried the Doctor. What does that mean?

    That means, ‘Is the porridge hot yet?’ – in bird-language.

    My! You don’t say so! said the Doctor. You never talked that way to me before.

    What would have been the good?’ said Polynesia, dusting some biscuit-crumbs off her left wing. You wouldn’t have understood me if

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