The Story of Doctor Dolittle (1920) is a children's fantasy novel by
Hugh Lofting. The novel is the first in a series of fifteen books
featuring Doctor Dolittle, a character created by Lofting in letters
written to his wife and children at home while he served in the Great
War. Beloved by generations of adults and children for their imaginative
and moral worldview, Lofting's books have inspired numerous adaptations
for theater, film, and television.
Doctor John Dolittle is an ordinary physician with an extraordinary
gift. Struggling to maintain his clinic, which he runs at the house of
his older sister, Dolittle turns his attention to caring for his vast
collection of animals from around the world. When his parrot Polynesia
teaches him how to speak with animals, however, his dwindling fortunes
are reversed, and Dolittle establishes a successful veterinary clinic.
As word of his skill reaches others, he is recruited for a voyage to
Africa, where help is needed in order to cure an epidemic ravaging the
monkey population. When a shipwreck leaves him stranded in a hostile
kingdom, however, Doctor Dolittle needs the help of the very monkeys he
has come to save in order to escape the clutches of Jolliginki's king.
Featuring pirates, crocodiles, and a magical creature known as a
pushmi-pullyu, The Story of Doctor Dolittle is a delightful work of
fantasy for children and adults alike.
With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript,
this edition of Hugh Lofting's The Story of Doctor Dolittle is a
classic of English children's fiction reimagined for modern readers.