The Story of Doctor Dolittle (Books of Wonder)

Foreword by Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick L. McKissack. Afterword by Peter Glassman.When a swallow arrives in Puddleby-on-the-Marsh with the news that the monkeys of Africa are ill and only the doctor who talks with animals can save them, Doctor Dolittle and such good friends as Jip, his loyal dog, and Dab-Dab, his housekeeper duck, face their greatest challenge. Together they must sail to Africa, battle a band of cutthroat pirates, flee across a gorge on a bridge made of acrobatic apes, and convince the king of the beasts that even he must help an animal in need. With nearly fifty full-page pictures from Michael Hague and the McKissacks artful reworking of the dilemma faced by Prince Bumpo, this treasured story is now available in a deluxe edition that all families will want to explore again and again.

No one loves and understands animals like the eccentric 19th century physician, Dr. Dolittle - who masters animal language with the help of Polynesia the parrot. After his human patients desert him, the kind-hearted doctor finds his calling in practicing animal medicine and his fame spreads far and wide.

Children's Literature

Lofting was an Englishman, transplanted to America, who created the Doctor Dolittle character in letters home to his children from the battlefields of World War I. Eleven more books followed, garnering him a Newbery and an unforgettable place in literature for his loveable little doctor who could talk to-and cure-the animals. Lofting was a man of his time, and his fantasy recreates that world, including warts. This new edition chooses to eliminate the warts with a revision "for modern sensibilities" as noted in the foreword by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack. This bowdlerization chiefly affects the Prince Bumpo scenes and, of course, eliminates Lofting's original illustrations. Michael Hague's artwork is lovely and lush, but it leaves one yearning for the wry wit of Lofting's simpler drawings. 1997 (orig.

THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE 1 THE FIRST CHAPTER PUDDLEBY 2 THE SECOND CHAPTER ANIMAL LANGUAGE 4 THE THIRD CHAPTER MORE MONEY TROUBLES 10 THE FOURTH CHAPTER A MESSAGE FROM AFRICA 14 THE FIFTH CHAPTER THE GREAT JOURNEY 18 THE SIXTH CHAPTER POLYNESIA AND THE KING 22 THE SEVENTH CHAPTER THE BRIDGE OF APES 25 THE EIGHTH CHAPTER THE LEADER OF THE LIONS 30 THE NINTH CHAPTER THE MONKEYS' COUNCIL 33 THE TENTH CHAPTER THE RAREST ANIMAL OF ALL 36 THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER THE BLACK PRINCE 40 THE TWELFTH CHAPTER MEDICINE AND MAGIC 44 THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS 49 THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER THE RATS' WARNING 52 THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER THE BARBARY DRAGON 55 THE SIXTEENTH CHAPTER TOO-TOO, THE LISTENER 59 THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER THE OCEAN GOSSIPS 62 THE EIGHTEENTH CHAPTER SMELLS 65 THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER THE ROCK 70 THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER THE FISHERMAN'S TOWN 74 THE LAST CHAPTER HOME AGAIN 77 There are some of us now reaching middle age who discover themselves to be lamenting the past in one respect if in none other, that there are no books written now for children comparable with those of thirty years ago. I say written FOR children because the new psychological business of writing ABOUT them as though they were small pills or hatched in some especially scientific method is extremely popular today. Once upon a time, many years ago-when our grandfathers were little children-there was a doctor; and his name was Dolittle-John Dolittle, M.D. "M.D." means that he was a proper doctor and knew a whole lot. 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.