Customer Reviews

The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I do agree that books containing racist positions should not be given to children without a strong and fully aware comment. But I simply cannot stand to buy a sanitised version of a book without being aware of it. This is called censorship, and it gives me the creeps. As a parent, I have had enough real life opportunities to prove racism wrong to my children. So to realise that somebody has been cheating on me, trying to do my job so that I did not have to explain how society has evolved, how difficult it has been for minorities to be recognised and respected is just a fraud. this review is about the Harper collins Edition , edited by Patricia C. and Frederick L. McKissak, illustrated by Michael Hague.

Got this book out of the library, and my young daughter was mesmerized by the extraordinary illustrations, as well as being fascinated by the good doctor, and his ability to speak to his various and highly characterized animal friends.

While it's not the original, I wouldn't have been able to read her the original (not on shelves around the libraries where I live). So, this was a really great way to introduce her.

Since she liked this one so much, she's checked out at least 7 other Dolittle books, so I'm quite grateful to Books of Wonder that they re-did this one and the Story of Dr. Dolittle with the Michael Hague illustrations; they opened a whole world to my daughter, and she can read through a couple of pages at a time herself now that she's 8. Also, we read aloud as the bedtime story, and there's plenty to talk about as far as different time, era, animal behavior, friendship etc. I'd never seen any Hague illustrations before and I was bowled over by them myself. I'm ordering off Amazon as a gift book

As far as the editing/censorship, there's still plenty to talk about in adventures taking place in a different time and place.

This book was amazing! wow! This book is one of thoses read-in-bed-with-a-flashlight kind of books, which is exactly what i did. The talking animals in this book are fasinating and wonderful. Even though this book was writen so long ago i think children now can still enjoy such a great book. I think it is like one of those daydreams i used to float through as a child. Practically perfect in every way!

While this is quite a beautiful edition (especially the illustrations) it is not the original story and has been slightly sanitized which is true of every edition except the Signet paper back. The changes that were made in the sixties are all politically correct but where's the fun in that?

[[ASIN:0688140017 The Story of Doctor Dolittle (Books of Wonder)
Book arrived in timely manner and in excellent condition. This was serendipidy for me. I did not know what to expect and was very pleasantly surprised.

Could you tell me the seller of this book? I will definitely use this seller again if I have a choice.