Doctor Dolittle: The Story of Doctor Dolittle

Ages 6 to 10, Grades 1 to 4

Doctor Dolittle has been beloved by children for more a century and will soon come to life again in the new movie, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle.

The famous doctor who can speak to animals first appeared in Hugh Lofting’s letters to his children during World War I and then later commercially in The Story of Doctor Dolittle, the first book in Lofting’s popular children’s book series.

Written and illustrated by Lofting himself, The Story of Doctor Dolittle follows John Dolittle and his misadventures with a crew of animals that he befriends. After learning he can speak to animals and he transitions from human medicine to veterinary practice, he loses most of his income and human patients. However, word in the animal kingdom spreads of this doctor with an extraordinary gift. Animals travel from far and wide to visit the doctor’s practice and receive treatment for their ailments.

After losing the majority of his wealth, the doctor receives word that an epidemic among monkeys is spreading throughout Africa and makes the voyage to confront the plague-ridden continent. Upon being shipwrecked with his animal crew, a slew of tribulations and adventures ensue in a classic story that has captivated readers young and old for nearly a century.

About the Author

Hugh Lofting was a British novelist and poet who was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, in 1886. Lofting’s most famous and well-known works are the Doctor Dolittle books, of which there are more than ten. The Story of Doctor Dolittle won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. The sequel, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, won the Newberry Medal. He also penned Porridge Poetry, The Story of Mrs. Tubbs, and Gub Gub’s Book: An Encyclopedia of Food. He died in 1947.