Story of Doctor Dolittle [Hardcover]

Hugh Lofting (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1988

The adventures of a kind-hearted doctor, who is fond of animals and understands their language, as he travels to Africa with some of his favorite pets to cure the monkeys of a terrible sickness.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Any child who is not given the opportunity to make the acquaintance of this rotund, kindly, and enthusiastic doctor/naturalist and all of his animal friends will miss out on something important."-- Jane Goodall --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

In this first book in the series, Doctor Dolittle discovers that he can talk to the animals--Jip the dog, Dab Dab the duck, Polynesia the parrot. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 156 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (May 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385296622
• ISBN-13: 978-0385296625
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,235,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Deceptive and Shallow "Politically Correct" Version, February 2, 2007

By 

BillyBobJoe "Keep Reading Challenging" (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Story of Doctor Dolittle (Hardcover)

I am a huge fan of the original Hugh Lofting Dr. Dolittle and not this shallow abridged version. A good part of the story is cut and the history is mutilated. The illustrations are obviously not complete Hugh Loftings even though they still bear his name. Many of his illustrations have been cut and pasted blending them with some weird Victorian style prints. The result is a jumbled mishmash. As a kid, I'm offended that they would take a wonderful piece of literature and trample it with political correctness jargon. There are things said in the original version that I understand would not be appropriate today. But it was a part or our history. And it gives a great opportunity for discussions with parents. As for this story, what is left? The character depth is ruined. The vocabulary is rudimentary. Utter trash. Don't waste your time. Original unabridged or nothing.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic that makes children think outside the box., May 4, 2002

By 

Carol Watkins "Psychiatrist" (Parkton, Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Story of Doctor Dolittle (Paperback)

I grew up with Hugh Lofting's books and wanted my children to read them. As Dr. Dolittle learns to communicate with animals, we begin to think about feelings and habits of individuals very different from ourselves.

Dr. Dolittle did not fit in with many of the stuffier aspects of British society. Thus, he was a miserable failure as a human doctor. His animals recognized his caring spirit and taught him to become an outstanding animal doctor. The stories contain suspense and adventure but there is little explicit violence. The animal characters, Jip the dog, Gub Gub the pig, Polinesia the parrot each have their own personalities and become friends with the reader.

Hugh Lofting was an Englishman of the early 20th century. As such, he used some troubling phrases that might be considered racist. Much of this seems to have been deleted or modified in the current version of this book.

I wanted my children to read all of the other Dr. Dolittle books. Unfortunately most of them are out of print. Thank goodness,I was able to find a number of the other titles in the Amazon.com used book section.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a classic for all ages, March 13, 2000

By 

Lisa Mapa - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Story of Doctor Dolittle (Paperback)

Dr. Dolittle is definitely a must-read for people of all ages, for children and for those who are young-at-heart. It is the story of a generous old man who seems capable of doing anything! All he wants to do is help, and he doesn't care if he loses all his money just to save monkeys in Africa from an epidemic. But the best thing about Dr. Dolittle is that he can talk to animals -- and this is probably every child's dream. And so read this when you're very young, read this to your children, and read this when you've forgotten what it is to be a kid. Because the quaint British way in which the story is told will keep you amused, while the crazy adventures of Dr. Dolittle and his conversations with his animal friends will keep your imagination rolling!