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Doctor Dolittle: The Complete Collection #1
Doctor Dolittle The Complete Collection, Vol. 1: The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle; The Story of Doctor Dolittle; Doctor Dolittle's Post Office
Just in time for the major motion picture Dolittle starring Robert Downey Jr.—soaring into theaters on January 17, 2020!
Journey into the world of Doctor Dolittle, the kind and eccentric naturalist who can speak with animals. Working with original author Hugh Lofting’s son, these books have been fully updated for the modern reader, all while retaining the full charm of the originals.
Rediscover the children’s literature classic with three novels from the beloved series!
Here are the good Doctor’s three exciting tales of world travel, beginning with his greatest adventure. In The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, winner of the prestigious Newbery Medal, the Doctor and his young assistant, Tommy Stubbins, travel in search of the brilliant naturalist Long Arrow, culminating in a meeting with the most fabled creature of all, the Great Glass Sea Snail! The Story of Doctor Dolittle details how the Doctor came to learn the languages of animals, and how he was called to Africa where he meets the rarest of all beasts, the marvelous two-headed pushmi-pullyu! And in another African adventure, Doctor Dolittle’s Post Office, the Doctor establishes the only postal service in the world where birds deliver the mail!
Journey into the world of Doctor Dolittle, the kind and eccentric naturalist who can speak with animals. Working with original author Hugh Lofting’s son, these books have been fully updated for the modern reader, all while retaining the full charm of the originals.
Rediscover the children’s literature classic with three novels from the beloved series!
Here are the good Doctor’s three exciting tales of world travel, beginning with his greatest adventure. In The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, winner of the prestigious Newbery Medal, the Doctor and his young assistant, Tommy Stubbins, travel in search of the brilliant naturalist Long Arrow, culminating in a meeting with the most fabled creature of all, the Great Glass Sea Snail! The Story of Doctor Dolittle details how the Doctor came to learn the languages of animals, and how he was called to Africa where he meets the rarest of all beasts, the marvelous two-headed pushmi-pullyu! And in another African adventure, Doctor Dolittle’s Post Office, the Doctor establishes the only postal service in the world where birds deliver the mail!
720 pages, Paperback
Published November 12, 2019
About the author
Hugh Lofting
290 books174 followersHugh Lofting was a British author, trained as a civil engineer, who created the character of Doctor Dolittle — one of the classics of children's literature.
Lofting was born in Maidenhead, England, to English and Irish parents. His early education was at Mount St Mary's College in Sheffield, after which he went to the United States, completing a degree in civil engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He traveled widely as a civil engineer before enlisting in the Irish Guards to serve in World War I. Not wishing to write to his children of the brutality of the war, he wrote imaginative letters that were the foundation of the successful Doctor Dolittle novels for children. Seriously wounded in the war, he moved with his family to Connecticut in the United States. Lofting was married three times and had three children, one of whom, his son Christopher, is the executor of his literary estate.
"For years it was a constant source of shock to me to find my writings amongst 'juveniles,'" Lofting reported. "It does not bother me any more now, but I still feel there should be a category of 'seniles' to offset the epithet."
Doctor Dolittle
Hugh Lofting's doctor from Puddleby-on-the-Marsh who could speak to animals first saw light in the author's illustrated letters to children, written from the trenches during World War I when actual news, he later said, was either too horrible or too dull. The stories are set in early Victorian England, (in and around the 1840s, according to a date given in The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle). The Story of Doctor Dolittle: Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts Never Before Printed (1920) began the series and won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958.The sequel, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922), won Lofting the prestigious Newbery Medal. Eight more books followed, and after Lofting's death two more volumes, composed of short unpublished pieces, appeared. The series has been adapted for film and television many times, for stage twice, and for radio.
Other Works for Children
The Story of Mrs Tubbs (1923) and Tommy, Tilly, and Mrs. Tubbs (1936) are picture books aimed at a younger audience than the Doctor Dolittle books. They concern the titular old woman, her pets (with whom she can speak) and the animals who help her out of trouble.
Porridge Poetry (1924) is the only non-Dolittle work by Lofting still in print. It is a lighthearted, colorfully illustrated book of poems for children.
Noisy Nora (1929) is a cautionary tale about a girl who is a noisy eater. The book is printed as if hand-written, and the many illustrations often merge with the text.
The Twilight of Magic (1930) is aimed at older readers. It is set in an age when magic is dying and science is beginning. This work is the only one of Lofting's books to be illustrated by another person (Lois Lenski).
Victory for the Slain
Victory for the Slain (1942) is Lofting's only work for adults, a single long poem in seven parts about the futility of war; the refrain "In war the only victors are the slain" permeates the poem. It was published only in the United Kingdom.
Lofting was born in Maidenhead, England, to English and Irish parents. His early education was at Mount St Mary's College in Sheffield, after which he went to the United States, completing a degree in civil engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He traveled widely as a civil engineer before enlisting in the Irish Guards to serve in World War I. Not wishing to write to his children of the brutality of the war, he wrote imaginative letters that were the foundation of the successful Doctor Dolittle novels for children. Seriously wounded in the war, he moved with his family to Connecticut in the United States. Lofting was married three times and had three children, one of whom, his son Christopher, is the executor of his literary estate.
"For years it was a constant source of shock to me to find my writings amongst 'juveniles,'" Lofting reported. "It does not bother me any more now, but I still feel there should be a category of 'seniles' to offset the epithet."
Doctor Dolittle
Hugh Lofting's doctor from Puddleby-on-the-Marsh who could speak to animals first saw light in the author's illustrated letters to children, written from the trenches during World War I when actual news, he later said, was either too horrible or too dull. The stories are set in early Victorian England, (in and around the 1840s, according to a date given in The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle). The Story of Doctor Dolittle: Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts Never Before Printed (1920) began the series and won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958.The sequel, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922), won Lofting the prestigious Newbery Medal. Eight more books followed, and after Lofting's death two more volumes, composed of short unpublished pieces, appeared. The series has been adapted for film and television many times, for stage twice, and for radio.
Other Works for Children
The Story of Mrs Tubbs (1923) and Tommy, Tilly, and Mrs. Tubbs (1936) are picture books aimed at a younger audience than the Doctor Dolittle books. They concern the titular old woman, her pets (with whom she can speak) and the animals who help her out of trouble.
Porridge Poetry (1924) is the only non-Dolittle work by Lofting still in print. It is a lighthearted, colorfully illustrated book of poems for children.
Noisy Nora (1929) is a cautionary tale about a girl who is a noisy eater. The book is printed as if hand-written, and the many illustrations often merge with the text.
The Twilight of Magic (1930) is aimed at older readers. It is set in an age when magic is dying and science is beginning. This work is the only one of Lofting's books to be illustrated by another person (Lois Lenski).
Victory for the Slain
Victory for the Slain (1942) is Lofting's only work for adults, a single long poem in seven parts about the futility of war; the refrain "In war the only victors are the slain" permeates the poem. It was published only in the United Kingdom.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
July 25, 2021
I sure did love Doctor Dolittle when I was a kid. I'd never been able to get my hands on all the books - my library had a limited set of them, and I've never had a huge amount of luck finding copies of the others in used bookstores. (I remember a long and fruitless search for the Green Canary when I was in my teens!) So when I saw this very handsome set of the complete works, it'd seemed like a Must Have.
I had a couple of concerns.
1. Should I choose the hardcovers or softcovers? I'd actually agonized over this for a while, going into a bookstore that had the softcovers on its shelves, then ordering the hardcover set to compare. I do think I made the right choice; the hardcover books are beautifully put together, with a sturdy but nicely flexible jewel-colored binding and a really nice page feel. It's both attractive and readable, which is a great combination for a collection like this - one that's meant to be read, not just put on display.
2. In reading reviews to make my decision about point #1, I discovered that these new editions, primed to come out alongside the Robert Downey Jr. movie, had been edited to better fit "a modern audience." Concerned that the editors had done some heavy-handed work that would ruin the tone and charm of the original publications, I held onto my battered old copies, intending to do a line-by-line comparison to discover exactly what had been changed.
Here's the thing, though: my goodness was that editing necessary.
And it turns out that it's pretty likely that if you grew up with the Dolittle books and are under the age of 40, you were probably already reading an edited version; Hugh Lofting's son, Christopher, was enlisted to help with a substantial set of changes in the '80s, and I'd guess the majority of the books on library shelves and in circulation in bookstores are probably from that print run. (Which may also explain why it was so difficult for me to find some of the less popular books? I wonder if those had more limited reprints.)
The books I remember from my childhood, and the ones I still had on my shelf, contained some outdated language and stumbled in places when it came to depictions of the non-white characters. I'd assumed that these were the issues that got ironed out in this brand new production, which is sort of true...except it turns out that the actual original language was much, MUCH worse.
I'd known a little of the context - some things about Prince Bumpo's storyline - but I'd never looked into it. While reading through this time, I got curious enough to look up some public domain digital copies. I do not recommend following my trail of curiosity if you simply want to read and enjoy these stories in their current state.
Unfortunately, now that I know more, it's hard for me to judge them without that context.
This edition doesn't bother with an introduction or an afterword, like the copies from the '80s, which explained how Hugh Lofting was a man of a different time, etc, who would've been horrified to find how insensitive his language was to modern audiences. I'm not sure I entirely believe that. It was the 1920s, for one, which wasn't that long ago. Uncle Tom's Cabin, for example, was published in 1852 - while that book certainly has some of its own issues, it's pretty disturbing to see the contrast between it and a story for children that was published 70 years later...and somehow won a Newbery Medal in that state. Lofting's original text doesn't qualify as insensitive. It's flat out racist, and pretty horrifically so. There's no need to go into detailed descriptions of why or to put those words into print once again, but trust me when I say that this edition is a significant and much-needed improvement.
There are differences between this 2019 publication and the already cleaned up '80s versions; in most cases, it's smaller but more accurate fixes like using "locals," "natives," and "South Americans" to describe the groups of people Lofting had been miscategorizing as "Indians," with an oddly thin grasp on geography. (Although I guess it's not too surprising, since he has a whole chapter in Doctor Dolittle's Post Office praising the greatest navigator of all time, Christopher Columbus. Oh dear...I've just wondered if that's who he named his son after?)
Anyway, these types of changes definitely don't disrupt the narrative itself or Lofting's writing style; if you didn't know this was an edited version, you'd probably never be able to tell the difference.
Unfortunately, once you do start paying attention, it's difficult to sink fully into the stories themselves, because it's pretty easy to pick out the bits where the text on the page seems innocuous enough, until you check it against the original and discover what Lofting's stories were really like.
This isn't really the space for a more in-depth discussion of Lofting himself, or at what point books are really too far gone to "save" for modern kids...but I did find myself thinking about that a lot as I read. Going through these books again is an interesting journey for me, as an adult who grew up with these stories, can think critically about them now, and can try to balance out the old joy with the uncomfortable new knowledge.
I honestly don't know if I would hand these books, even in their current state, to a child. I'd loved them a lot when I was a kid, and there's still some wonderfully imaginative stuff in here - plus an inspiring, terribly important emphasis on kindness to animals, no matter how big or how small - but all three of the books in this volume had a pretty substantial imperialism/white savior narrative, even after all the careful editing.
One of the more obvious changes between the '80s and now is that there's an entire chapter removed from The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, where the Doctor taught the islanders how to make fire. Some additional lines and paragraphs are deleted here or there - the Doctor needing to teach people about sewage and clean water and the proper care of babies...people who, as Polynesia the parrot herself says at one point, have gotten along perfectly well without him for generations.
There are other parts, though, that were too difficult to change without completely rewriting the story. The most striking example is Doctor Dolittle becoming the king of Spidermonkey Island. There are reasons for that sudden rise to power, even with the fire element removed, but it's still pretty uncomfortable to read page after page of people essentially worshipping him and setting him on a literal pedestal (or throne). It makes sense for the animals of the world to respect and adore the only person on the planet who's taken the time to learn their languages and find ways to help them. Getting that same level of devotion from other human beings? Not as great.
I'm still debating whether I'll end up keeping these lovely editions after all; it'll depend on how I like the rest, and how deep my nostalgia goes. I suspect (hope?) that the stories that are set in England, rather than in Africa or on islands off the coast of South America, will focus more on Doctor Dolittle's relationship with animals and less on him changing other countries to be more English. We'll see, though.
Now, with all that context out of the way, a quick review of the books themselves - because sadly those weren't the only issues I had with them.
The Story of Doctor Dolittle
While The Story of Doctor Dolittle was published first, it's included second in this volume...which is a choice I wouldn't ordinarily agree with but do understand. It's a very slim book - taking up only 107 of the 709 pages, with a simple, pretty straightforward "there and back again" story that pales in comparison to the sprawling, epic nature of the award-winning Voyages. I'm reminded a little of Tolkien's transition from The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings; the Dolittle stories started out as scribbled-down, roughly illustrated tales for Lofting's children, and he began fleshing out and expanding his world as he went on. Of course, the level of his writing or his storytelling really can't be compared to Tolkien's work.
In this fairly short introductory book, we begin by getting to know a little about the doctor himself.
Doctor Dolittle starts out as a human doctor. Unfortunately (for his empty wallet and his irritable housekeeper sister), he likes animals much more than people, which gets him into trouble when he collects too many pets. They gradually frighten away all his human patients, and even his transition to local veterinarian hits some crocodile-shaped roadblocks.
There are some excellently funny moments in here and a lot of creativity; I still remember the silly illustration of the glasses-wearing horse, and the lady who sits on a hedgehog. While Lofting's chunky, simplistic art isn't terribly good, it's fun and memorable in its own way.
The bulk of the story, as with the others in this volume, takes place on a voyage. Dirt-poor but beloved by the animals whose languages he's dedicated himself to learning, Doctor Dolittle hears about an epidemic that's killing hundreds of monkeys in Africa. He borrows a boat and some money for food and sets sail.
The story itself isn't really as exceptional as I'd remembered; the chapters are short and jump from action to action, with a few exciting bits like the monkey bridge, and the introduction of the two-headed Pushmi-Pullyu. Dolittle also hops in and out of prison, captured (twice) by Prince Bumpo's father and released (once) by the prince himself - thanks to Polynesia's hypnosis, in the '80s-edited version.
On the way back home, Dolittle runs into some pirates whom he sternly lectures and - with the help of some friendly sharks - turns into birdseed farmers. That encounter is swiftly followed by a fun but rather mean-spirited battle of wills between Jip the dog and Gub-Gub the pig, which results in Jip saving a man's life and earning a solid gold collar as thanks (referenced at the beginning of Voyages). Once they get back to England, they stick the Pushmi-Pullyu in a circus caravan, make some money, and return to Puddleby to live in fairly affluent peace. Most of these events take place over the course of just a few pages, so I'm really not being all that thin on description.
Honestly, the most memorable part of the story this time around was the monkeys' mass vaccination. In 1922, nearly 100 years ago, even animals understood that if a disease was wiping out a good percentage of your population, the best thing to do was to trust in medicine and science and get jabbed in the arm. So I suppose in some ways - in science and the fair treatment of animals - Lofting was fairly progressive.
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
I've already talked a fair amount about this book, but one weird thing is that it really feels like multiple books. I don't think it was a serialized publication, but it has that Dickensian feel...like Lofting was stretching out his story from week to week, piling on new adventures just to keep the page count running.
I absolutely loved the beginning and was initially so excited to dive back into this beautiful world of talking animals. The early parts are wonderfully written. Lofting spends a lot more time on description in this book, and it shows; with the introduction of Tommy Stubbins, he has an approachable, grounded narrator who can relate to the readers and explain all the whats and whys behind the Doctor's actions. I loved seeing Dolittle actually working at learning languages; Polynesia, freshly back from Africa, tells Tommy how that part of the doctor's education first began, and we and Tommy get to watch him struggle through the incredible difficulty of speaking to shellfish. (A stray line in the first Dolittle book shows that this was a new idea: "The shellfish call us 'The Ocean Gossips'," a porpoise tells the doctor, indicating that at this point, unlike in Voyages, they had no trouble communicating with those elusive sea creatures.)
This, and the eventual encounter with the Great Sea Snail, would've been enough to flesh out a story, but Lofting threw in a lot more elements, some of them weirdly unnecessary. In the first book, Dolittle set out to sea with only his animals, making it to Africa and back with no real difficulty. Lofting attempts a bit more realism this time around; the doctor insists that he and his 10-year-old apprentice, Tommy, aren't enough to man the boat, and he goes in search of a third amateur sailor. This leads to a series of adventures, including four stowaways and, inexplicably, a murder trial.
"I can speak to dogs," Dolittle tells the oddly sympathetic judge, calling up a bulldog as a key witness and swanning off to sea as soon as the trial is over. You'd think that bit of the story would have more relevance to the rest, but it really doesn't. I can't remember if people in later books know about Doctor Dolittle's ability to talk to animals, but I suppose I'll find out as I continue. They'd have to, after that very public display, but it's not mentioned again in this book.
This is another spot, incidentally, where the 2019 and 1980s versions differ; the newer edition restores a little educational aside where the doctor explains the invention of policemen to a curious Tommy, who's apparently never seen them before. I'm not sure why these lines were ever removed; perhaps the editors figured they'd snip out a few less-interesting-for-kids bits while they were at it.
Dolittle's - and Lofting's - love of animals definitely comes out swinging in this book. On their way to Spidermonkey Island, Dolittle & friends (now with Prince Bumpo as their third man) stop to dump a stowaway and stock up on provisions, and wind up witnessing a bullfight. Furious with the beastly treatment of the animals, the doctor puts a plan into motion that results in bullfighting being abolished in that area - and in him and his companions fleeing for their lives from an angry mob.
The rest of the book, as I've already said, is hampered by the extensive King Of The Island plot, and wrapped up far too quickly by a glossed-over jaunt along the ocean floor, once Dolittle finally meets the Great Snail and learns how to speak shellfish. I wish more attention had been given to that portion of the story, and to the friendship between Doctor Dolittle and Long Arrow - the man Dolittle calls the world's greatest naturalist, the only other person in the world who can speak with (some) animals. Instead, we get some dramatic war scenes and a lot of Doctor Dolittle ruling over people who were really doing just fine without him.
I can see why this book won an award; its creativity and the breadth of its imagination is impressive, and it's definitely left its impact on a lot of children. Looking back at it now, I see more of the gaps in its storytelling and the sometimes slipshod construction, but none of that really comes through when you're a kid eagerly reading about a man who can talk to animals.
Doctor Dolittle's Post Office
The last book in this volume is one that I don't think I'd ever read when I was younger, and I think it suffered a bit because of that. With no nostalgia to guide me, I found myself pretty bored by most of the post office itself. Once again, it's Dolittle back in Africa, improving people's lives by establishing English customs. He does have much better, and significantly more balanced and respectful, relationships with the rulers he meets this time around. Unlike with Bumpo's father, Dolittle genuinely becomes friends with King Koko - who embraces and pays for the bird-run postal service in his rather well-off country - and Chief Nyam-Nyam, who's old and wise and was only hampered by enforced poverty and insufficient resources. (Saved, in this case, by Dolittle's pearl-hunting cormorant friends and a bunch of mice.)
The most interesting parts of this rather long book were the stories the animals told (except for the Pushmi-Pullyu's clearly edited one about hunters and ostriches) and Mudface the turtle, who knew Noah. Like with the Great Snail, Dolittle expends an awful lot of effort in meeting the ancient and knowledgeable creature, then talks to him for a day and a half and goes on his way. We, as with the ocean voyage, get a quickly skimmed over summary and never learn a single thing about what Mudface knew about Noah (or how he can predict the weather!). It's a weird choice, when we got to slog through about 100 pages of descriptions of stamps.
It's also kind of weird for Dolittle to set up and run a post office for...about a year? I'm unclear on the timing - only to abandon it and head back to England. For all his talk about improving things for others, he never seems able to set things up to continue running without him - which frankly makes most of this book feel like a waste. Good luck to all the animals that were enjoying writing to each other! Not sure who's going to be delivering their letters now.
Like I said earlier in this admittedly unwieldy review (it's difficult to review three books at once, while shaken by distressing discoveries about one of your childhood heroes), I'm really not sure yet if I'll keep these books. I'd like to; they're gorgeous, thoughtfully assembled editions that look nice on my shelf and bring back some fond childhood memories. I'll have to see how the remaining volumes hold up, and if Dolittle and his friends will earn a lasting spot on my shelves' limited space.
I had a couple of concerns.
1. Should I choose the hardcovers or softcovers? I'd actually agonized over this for a while, going into a bookstore that had the softcovers on its shelves, then ordering the hardcover set to compare. I do think I made the right choice; the hardcover books are beautifully put together, with a sturdy but nicely flexible jewel-colored binding and a really nice page feel. It's both attractive and readable, which is a great combination for a collection like this - one that's meant to be read, not just put on display.
2. In reading reviews to make my decision about point #1, I discovered that these new editions, primed to come out alongside the Robert Downey Jr. movie, had been edited to better fit "a modern audience." Concerned that the editors had done some heavy-handed work that would ruin the tone and charm of the original publications, I held onto my battered old copies, intending to do a line-by-line comparison to discover exactly what had been changed.
Here's the thing, though: my goodness was that editing necessary.
And it turns out that it's pretty likely that if you grew up with the Dolittle books and are under the age of 40, you were probably already reading an edited version; Hugh Lofting's son, Christopher, was enlisted to help with a substantial set of changes in the '80s, and I'd guess the majority of the books on library shelves and in circulation in bookstores are probably from that print run. (Which may also explain why it was so difficult for me to find some of the less popular books? I wonder if those had more limited reprints.)
The books I remember from my childhood, and the ones I still had on my shelf, contained some outdated language and stumbled in places when it came to depictions of the non-white characters. I'd assumed that these were the issues that got ironed out in this brand new production, which is sort of true...except it turns out that the actual original language was much, MUCH worse.
I'd known a little of the context - some things about Prince Bumpo's storyline - but I'd never looked into it. While reading through this time, I got curious enough to look up some public domain digital copies. I do not recommend following my trail of curiosity if you simply want to read and enjoy these stories in their current state.
Unfortunately, now that I know more, it's hard for me to judge them without that context.
This edition doesn't bother with an introduction or an afterword, like the copies from the '80s, which explained how Hugh Lofting was a man of a different time, etc, who would've been horrified to find how insensitive his language was to modern audiences. I'm not sure I entirely believe that. It was the 1920s, for one, which wasn't that long ago. Uncle Tom's Cabin, for example, was published in 1852 - while that book certainly has some of its own issues, it's pretty disturbing to see the contrast between it and a story for children that was published 70 years later...and somehow won a Newbery Medal in that state. Lofting's original text doesn't qualify as insensitive. It's flat out racist, and pretty horrifically so. There's no need to go into detailed descriptions of why or to put those words into print once again, but trust me when I say that this edition is a significant and much-needed improvement.
There are differences between this 2019 publication and the already cleaned up '80s versions; in most cases, it's smaller but more accurate fixes like using "locals," "natives," and "South Americans" to describe the groups of people Lofting had been miscategorizing as "Indians," with an oddly thin grasp on geography. (Although I guess it's not too surprising, since he has a whole chapter in Doctor Dolittle's Post Office praising the greatest navigator of all time, Christopher Columbus. Oh dear...I've just wondered if that's who he named his son after?)
Anyway, these types of changes definitely don't disrupt the narrative itself or Lofting's writing style; if you didn't know this was an edited version, you'd probably never be able to tell the difference.
Unfortunately, once you do start paying attention, it's difficult to sink fully into the stories themselves, because it's pretty easy to pick out the bits where the text on the page seems innocuous enough, until you check it against the original and discover what Lofting's stories were really like.
This isn't really the space for a more in-depth discussion of Lofting himself, or at what point books are really too far gone to "save" for modern kids...but I did find myself thinking about that a lot as I read. Going through these books again is an interesting journey for me, as an adult who grew up with these stories, can think critically about them now, and can try to balance out the old joy with the uncomfortable new knowledge.
I honestly don't know if I would hand these books, even in their current state, to a child. I'd loved them a lot when I was a kid, and there's still some wonderfully imaginative stuff in here - plus an inspiring, terribly important emphasis on kindness to animals, no matter how big or how small - but all three of the books in this volume had a pretty substantial imperialism/white savior narrative, even after all the careful editing.
One of the more obvious changes between the '80s and now is that there's an entire chapter removed from The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, where the Doctor taught the islanders how to make fire. Some additional lines and paragraphs are deleted here or there - the Doctor needing to teach people about sewage and clean water and the proper care of babies...people who, as Polynesia the parrot herself says at one point, have gotten along perfectly well without him for generations.
There are other parts, though, that were too difficult to change without completely rewriting the story. The most striking example is Doctor Dolittle becoming the king of Spidermonkey Island. There are reasons for that sudden rise to power, even with the fire element removed, but it's still pretty uncomfortable to read page after page of people essentially worshipping him and setting him on a literal pedestal (or throne). It makes sense for the animals of the world to respect and adore the only person on the planet who's taken the time to learn their languages and find ways to help them. Getting that same level of devotion from other human beings? Not as great.
I'm still debating whether I'll end up keeping these lovely editions after all; it'll depend on how I like the rest, and how deep my nostalgia goes. I suspect (hope?) that the stories that are set in England, rather than in Africa or on islands off the coast of South America, will focus more on Doctor Dolittle's relationship with animals and less on him changing other countries to be more English. We'll see, though.
Now, with all that context out of the way, a quick review of the books themselves - because sadly those weren't the only issues I had with them.
The Story of Doctor Dolittle
While The Story of Doctor Dolittle was published first, it's included second in this volume...which is a choice I wouldn't ordinarily agree with but do understand. It's a very slim book - taking up only 107 of the 709 pages, with a simple, pretty straightforward "there and back again" story that pales in comparison to the sprawling, epic nature of the award-winning Voyages. I'm reminded a little of Tolkien's transition from The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings; the Dolittle stories started out as scribbled-down, roughly illustrated tales for Lofting's children, and he began fleshing out and expanding his world as he went on. Of course, the level of his writing or his storytelling really can't be compared to Tolkien's work.
In this fairly short introductory book, we begin by getting to know a little about the doctor himself.
Doctor Dolittle starts out as a human doctor. Unfortunately (for his empty wallet and his irritable housekeeper sister), he likes animals much more than people, which gets him into trouble when he collects too many pets. They gradually frighten away all his human patients, and even his transition to local veterinarian hits some crocodile-shaped roadblocks.
There are some excellently funny moments in here and a lot of creativity; I still remember the silly illustration of the glasses-wearing horse, and the lady who sits on a hedgehog. While Lofting's chunky, simplistic art isn't terribly good, it's fun and memorable in its own way.
The bulk of the story, as with the others in this volume, takes place on a voyage. Dirt-poor but beloved by the animals whose languages he's dedicated himself to learning, Doctor Dolittle hears about an epidemic that's killing hundreds of monkeys in Africa. He borrows a boat and some money for food and sets sail.
The story itself isn't really as exceptional as I'd remembered; the chapters are short and jump from action to action, with a few exciting bits like the monkey bridge, and the introduction of the two-headed Pushmi-Pullyu. Dolittle also hops in and out of prison, captured (twice) by Prince Bumpo's father and released (once) by the prince himself - thanks to Polynesia's hypnosis, in the '80s-edited version.
On the way back home, Dolittle runs into some pirates whom he sternly lectures and - with the help of some friendly sharks - turns into birdseed farmers. That encounter is swiftly followed by a fun but rather mean-spirited battle of wills between Jip the dog and Gub-Gub the pig, which results in Jip saving a man's life and earning a solid gold collar as thanks (referenced at the beginning of Voyages). Once they get back to England, they stick the Pushmi-Pullyu in a circus caravan, make some money, and return to Puddleby to live in fairly affluent peace. Most of these events take place over the course of just a few pages, so I'm really not being all that thin on description.
Honestly, the most memorable part of the story this time around was the monkeys' mass vaccination. In 1922, nearly 100 years ago, even animals understood that if a disease was wiping out a good percentage of your population, the best thing to do was to trust in medicine and science and get jabbed in the arm. So I suppose in some ways - in science and the fair treatment of animals - Lofting was fairly progressive.
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
I've already talked a fair amount about this book, but one weird thing is that it really feels like multiple books. I don't think it was a serialized publication, but it has that Dickensian feel...like Lofting was stretching out his story from week to week, piling on new adventures just to keep the page count running.
I absolutely loved the beginning and was initially so excited to dive back into this beautiful world of talking animals. The early parts are wonderfully written. Lofting spends a lot more time on description in this book, and it shows; with the introduction of Tommy Stubbins, he has an approachable, grounded narrator who can relate to the readers and explain all the whats and whys behind the Doctor's actions. I loved seeing Dolittle actually working at learning languages; Polynesia, freshly back from Africa, tells Tommy how that part of the doctor's education first began, and we and Tommy get to watch him struggle through the incredible difficulty of speaking to shellfish. (A stray line in the first Dolittle book shows that this was a new idea: "The shellfish call us 'The Ocean Gossips'," a porpoise tells the doctor, indicating that at this point, unlike in Voyages, they had no trouble communicating with those elusive sea creatures.)
This, and the eventual encounter with the Great Sea Snail, would've been enough to flesh out a story, but Lofting threw in a lot more elements, some of them weirdly unnecessary. In the first book, Dolittle set out to sea with only his animals, making it to Africa and back with no real difficulty. Lofting attempts a bit more realism this time around; the doctor insists that he and his 10-year-old apprentice, Tommy, aren't enough to man the boat, and he goes in search of a third amateur sailor. This leads to a series of adventures, including four stowaways and, inexplicably, a murder trial.
"I can speak to dogs," Dolittle tells the oddly sympathetic judge, calling up a bulldog as a key witness and swanning off to sea as soon as the trial is over. You'd think that bit of the story would have more relevance to the rest, but it really doesn't. I can't remember if people in later books know about Doctor Dolittle's ability to talk to animals, but I suppose I'll find out as I continue. They'd have to, after that very public display, but it's not mentioned again in this book.
This is another spot, incidentally, where the 2019 and 1980s versions differ; the newer edition restores a little educational aside where the doctor explains the invention of policemen to a curious Tommy, who's apparently never seen them before. I'm not sure why these lines were ever removed; perhaps the editors figured they'd snip out a few less-interesting-for-kids bits while they were at it.
Dolittle's - and Lofting's - love of animals definitely comes out swinging in this book. On their way to Spidermonkey Island, Dolittle & friends (now with Prince Bumpo as their third man) stop to dump a stowaway and stock up on provisions, and wind up witnessing a bullfight. Furious with the beastly treatment of the animals, the doctor puts a plan into motion that results in bullfighting being abolished in that area - and in him and his companions fleeing for their lives from an angry mob.
The rest of the book, as I've already said, is hampered by the extensive King Of The Island plot, and wrapped up far too quickly by a glossed-over jaunt along the ocean floor, once Dolittle finally meets the Great Snail and learns how to speak shellfish. I wish more attention had been given to that portion of the story, and to the friendship between Doctor Dolittle and Long Arrow - the man Dolittle calls the world's greatest naturalist, the only other person in the world who can speak with (some) animals. Instead, we get some dramatic war scenes and a lot of Doctor Dolittle ruling over people who were really doing just fine without him.
I can see why this book won an award; its creativity and the breadth of its imagination is impressive, and it's definitely left its impact on a lot of children. Looking back at it now, I see more of the gaps in its storytelling and the sometimes slipshod construction, but none of that really comes through when you're a kid eagerly reading about a man who can talk to animals.
Doctor Dolittle's Post Office
The last book in this volume is one that I don't think I'd ever read when I was younger, and I think it suffered a bit because of that. With no nostalgia to guide me, I found myself pretty bored by most of the post office itself. Once again, it's Dolittle back in Africa, improving people's lives by establishing English customs. He does have much better, and significantly more balanced and respectful, relationships with the rulers he meets this time around. Unlike with Bumpo's father, Dolittle genuinely becomes friends with King Koko - who embraces and pays for the bird-run postal service in his rather well-off country - and Chief Nyam-Nyam, who's old and wise and was only hampered by enforced poverty and insufficient resources. (Saved, in this case, by Dolittle's pearl-hunting cormorant friends and a bunch of mice.)
The most interesting parts of this rather long book were the stories the animals told (except for the Pushmi-Pullyu's clearly edited one about hunters and ostriches) and Mudface the turtle, who knew Noah. Like with the Great Snail, Dolittle expends an awful lot of effort in meeting the ancient and knowledgeable creature, then talks to him for a day and a half and goes on his way. We, as with the ocean voyage, get a quickly skimmed over summary and never learn a single thing about what Mudface knew about Noah (or how he can predict the weather!). It's a weird choice, when we got to slog through about 100 pages of descriptions of stamps.
It's also kind of weird for Dolittle to set up and run a post office for...about a year? I'm unclear on the timing - only to abandon it and head back to England. For all his talk about improving things for others, he never seems able to set things up to continue running without him - which frankly makes most of this book feel like a waste. Good luck to all the animals that were enjoying writing to each other! Not sure who's going to be delivering their letters now.
Like I said earlier in this admittedly unwieldy review (it's difficult to review three books at once, while shaken by distressing discoveries about one of your childhood heroes), I'm really not sure yet if I'll keep these books. I'd like to; they're gorgeous, thoughtfully assembled editions that look nice on my shelf and bring back some fond childhood memories. I'll have to see how the remaining volumes hold up, and if Dolittle and his friends will earn a lasting spot on my shelves' limited space.
April 29, 2020
I think Dr.Dolittle was an awesome book 📚. One thing I liked about it was that all the animals talked, from a parrot to a monkey to a Pushmi-pullyu. They made the story interesting. Another thing I liked was that there was more than one volume in one book. Lastly, I also liked the plot of the story . The events in the story are weird and exciting. This is why I love the book Dr.Dolittle. It really made 709 pages fly by.
December 26, 2020
This book is so so so good! It's a great book for people who love animals! Whenever I read it I always had full attention on it! Highly recommend!
July 26, 2020
I’m loving all of the classics I’ve been reading. This was a sweet read very entertaining. I love the feel of this very very floppy book
October 9, 2020
A favorite for me as a kid. This was a cozy, nostalgic read.
Read
July 22, 2022My 10 year old really liked this book. He asked for the entire set.
January 1, 2020
The Story of Doctor Doolittle: 3 stars. This book is not presented first in this collection so I read this one second, not knowing it was the first book. This was a quick read and a good introduction to Dr. Doolittle and what he can do. We learn about a few of the animal characters and Dr. Doolittle himself. The writing was a little bit clunky and simple but for a children's book, it's just right.
The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle: A solid 4 stars, the story is just as good as I remember from when I read it as a kid. There were edits of some kind to these books but they weren't obvious to me and didn't ruin the story at all. The characters are good, the plot is simple but exciting and the storytelling is very good. The writing is simple and straightforward but it is perfect for this children's book.
Doctor Doolittle's Post Office: Not as entertaining as Voyages but still enjoyable. There are many little stories inside this book which makes it just a collection of shorter stories. Again simple writing and storytelling but very entertaining anyway.
I would recommend this collection to anyone who read these books as a kid and wants to reread them. I read many of the Doctor Doolittle books when I was a kid, but had trouble finding them as an adult. This collection has allowed me to reread them and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. There have been some edits to these books that update it for the modern world, which I was very worried about but I couldn't tell where things were edited with this version. These books are just as good as I remember and I am glad that I am able to read them again. 4 out of 5 stars.
The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle: A solid 4 stars, the story is just as good as I remember from when I read it as a kid. There were edits of some kind to these books but they weren't obvious to me and didn't ruin the story at all. The characters are good, the plot is simple but exciting and the storytelling is very good. The writing is simple and straightforward but it is perfect for this children's book.
Doctor Doolittle's Post Office: Not as entertaining as Voyages but still enjoyable. There are many little stories inside this book which makes it just a collection of shorter stories. Again simple writing and storytelling but very entertaining anyway.
I would recommend this collection to anyone who read these books as a kid and wants to reread them. I read many of the Doctor Doolittle books when I was a kid, but had trouble finding them as an adult. This collection has allowed me to reread them and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. There have been some edits to these books that update it for the modern world, which I was very worried about but I couldn't tell where things were edited with this version. These books are just as good as I remember and I am glad that I am able to read them again. 4 out of 5 stars.
October 16, 2022
These are good books for middle grade readers, although I will say that if you're planning on giving them to your kids to read... I'd find a format where each book is broken out individually. The size of the volumes in this collection is about 3-4 books per volume, which makes them rather intimidating in size - even for an experienced and avid reader.
Dr. Dolittle has been a favorite of mine since childhood, and has always been a bit of a whimsical character, the good-hearted naturalist who understands the animals and can make impossible things happen because he has so many animal friends. Animal speech would definitely be a life skill worth learning. Whether the doctor is traipsing through an island off the coast of South America or travelling through the impassible jungles of the African swamps, he always comes across something interesting and wonderful and doesn't hesitate to stop and wonder over it.
Keep in mind that these are old stories, and so the author does not hesitate to describe his foreign characters in terms that we might find stereotypical in our current cultural climate.
Another interesting note about these books is that the reader can get a good feel for the science of the era when Christianity was the accepted world-view but science was beginning to cling more whole-heartedly to the concept of the world being millions of years old. It's interesting to see the two world-views attempting to inhabit the same space side by side. Granted, it's not a focus of the story, but the two concepts are most definitely woven through the tales.
Dr. Dolittle has been a favorite of mine since childhood, and has always been a bit of a whimsical character, the good-hearted naturalist who understands the animals and can make impossible things happen because he has so many animal friends. Animal speech would definitely be a life skill worth learning. Whether the doctor is traipsing through an island off the coast of South America or travelling through the impassible jungles of the African swamps, he always comes across something interesting and wonderful and doesn't hesitate to stop and wonder over it.
Keep in mind that these are old stories, and so the author does not hesitate to describe his foreign characters in terms that we might find stereotypical in our current cultural climate.
Another interesting note about these books is that the reader can get a good feel for the science of the era when Christianity was the accepted world-view but science was beginning to cling more whole-heartedly to the concept of the world being millions of years old. It's interesting to see the two world-views attempting to inhabit the same space side by side. Granted, it's not a focus of the story, but the two concepts are most definitely woven through the tales.
July 4, 2020
I'm just going to throw it out there that when I was a lot....lot younger, I believed I would be a vet and talk to animals thanks to the Eddie Murphy version of Dr. Dolittle, now I've grown up... I still wish I could ;) . I love the concept of this book/series and the authors seemingly never-ending imagination, this first book contains three stories although there are three more great looking volumes to read next too. The ideas are entertaining; wildly out of this world, completely crazy but also absolutely fantastic. I love how every bad situation that could possibly go wrong seems to do just that, but the Dr is always able to escape or get out of it relatively easily. To this day, Dolittle will always be one of my favourite childhood stories, memories and a source of entertainment, it was lovely to read this book and see where it all started as oppose to having only watched the films.
Not only is the story beautiful but I love the artwork on the covers too, the series looks beautiful!
Not only is the story beautiful but I love the artwork on the covers too, the series looks beautiful!
September 1, 2021
I read The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle from this volume, as part of an effort to read all the Newberry winners. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Dr. Dolittle is a unique character, and the animals have personalities as well. Stubbins, the narrator and only child in the book, blends into the background similar to Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes. Long Arrow, Bumpo, and Polynesia are minor characters, but distinct. The book delivers with many adventures over the course of their voyage.
However, when I picked it up I did not realize it was an updated version and I now wonder how much was changed. It reads like an old book, with episodic chapters that have an arch of their own but come together to make a larger story. Almost as though it were written in installments. I found it to be a surprisingly pleasant and palatable pacing for a modern reader. I did notice that thoughts on race, the environment, etc., were all very modern and wonder how much has been changed. I have mixed opinions on this practice. I would like to compare it with the original, if possible.
However, when I picked it up I did not realize it was an updated version and I now wonder how much was changed. It reads like an old book, with episodic chapters that have an arch of their own but come together to make a larger story. Almost as though it were written in installments. I found it to be a surprisingly pleasant and palatable pacing for a modern reader. I did notice that thoughts on race, the environment, etc., were all very modern and wonder how much has been changed. I have mixed opinions on this practice. I would like to compare it with the original, if possible.
February 17, 2022
This is a cute classic middle grade story that is adorably animal focused. However this is a product of its time, more specifically about sexism, race, and culture. On a more personal level I found aspects of the story was eyeroll inducing and tedious. It is was a cute story overall, but not what I was hoping for given the excitement I had at the idea of an animal-centric adventure novel. As a whole it just wasn't what I was hoping for, and the payoff just didn't feel worth the time it took to consume. Just felt a little to ridiculous even for a middle grade story in my opinion especially for one that is such a product of it time. So while not in any way terrible just not worth continuing the series.
March 18, 2024
This is actually three books, so I'm a little peeved it only counts as one. But either way...
I read this to the kids, and they all loved it. It felt a bit like an intro to adult adventure books. Almost like the beginning of King Solomon's Mines. Ah. Now there's a book worth reading. Which is probably why l like this one so much.
(Note, this is the updated version that removes any racist words or phrases).
I read this to the kids, and they all loved it. It felt a bit like an intro to adult adventure books. Almost like the beginning of King Solomon's Mines. Ah. Now there's a book worth reading. Which is probably why l like this one so much.
(Note, this is the updated version that removes any racist words or phrases).
April 28, 2020
Read The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle our loud with my 9 yo struggling reader and it was absolutely wonderful. Captivated her attention and the writing style was just the right level for her to take turns reading to me. Told from the point of view of a 9 year old boy who becomes Dolittle’s assistant. For young lovers of animals and simple adventures, this is a fantastic pick.
September 7, 2021
This was so whimsical and fun. I had a great time with it. I loved the second story and found myself not enjoying the 1st and 3rd ones as much. I loved how there were illustrations by the author and how they were simplistic. You don't see that a lot! Overall, this was a great read. I really enjoyed this!!
April 21, 2024
I would like to talk to animals too you know!? I would love to become something like doctor! And I think gub gub is funny.... Always thinking about food like my cousin! 😜 The magic cucumber really has some nice touch on it! Gub gub is a good food storyteller! I like the others storys too... I think I might make a good storyteller too...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 30, 2024
Loved the book. I really love all of the stories . I was so glad when i found this book at barnes and nobles because i have friends that would talk about Doctor Dolittle and i would be like i have to read that story. Totally recommend .
January 1, 2020
Loved it! What a classic! What a great adventure! One of the best writers ever! One of my favorite books I’ve read! Highly recommended!
April 10, 2020
EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS
October 11, 2020
I enjoyed this thoroughly as did my daughter.
December 19, 2020
Totally amazing! This is a perfect book for all children. What a wild imagination! What adventures!
Read
January 25, 2021It's was good but I did find it a bit hard to finish
August 7, 2021
So fun to revisit one of my favorite childhood series!
November 14, 2021
Amazing book first time reading them
March 28, 2022
This book is great, adventurous, and absolutely amazing. Hugh Lofting has written a masterpiece. You should definitely read this book!
July 13, 2022
Reading this story took me away from reality. The imagination from an author that wrote these stories during World War 1 is unbelievable. Can't wait to read the next 3 volumes.
February 14, 2024
Some of my favorite books from when I was 6 or so. I’m delighted to renew acquaintance with them!
July 7, 2024
I liked the three stories, but they weren't really my favorites. It was more for younger kids though. I would probably enjoy it more if I was younger. Would probably recommend to 7-10 year olds.
October 3, 2024
Loved reading this book.
August 10, 2023
When I went to Barnes & Noble for the first time in a long time looking for something to read, I thought all hope was lost. Every book on my shelves that was available to me at home, I had read. Some for my taste were too bland, and some too quick; this changed when my mom found something new. My mom, being from Poland along with my dad, had read many titles and recognized some of them. One of them that caught her eye was "Doctor Dolittle". I was scared to open this new book, for I had never really expressed interest in stories about life (with some magic too, of course) and I thought it wouldn't be interesting and keep me invested. Oh how wrong I was. I took to this book like a kid after gold and this book was so good that I have recently started re-reading it after almost a year. It is definitely recommended, and especially if you have a hard time choosing books or finding some, this may be where that all changes.
This was very dramatic, I know.
This was very dramatic, I know.
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