The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922)

If I could give this book more stars I would. I read the 14th printing, with the pictures drawn by the author. I looked forward reading this book daily. I hated to finish it. I learned so much about the world and nature by this book. I learned a lot about myself as well, especially as the book came to a conclusion. I truly loved this book and I am grateful that this book was shelved in view at the main branch of the Cleveland Public Library-Children section. ( )

A classic, which unfortunately is all-to-often censored for completely idiotic reasons. The first in a series, my son loved it so much that we've continued with the rest of the Dolittle books. ( )

Great book. You should read even though it looks old and baby-ish.

Publisher: Williams & Co. Verlag, Berlin

Publication Date: 1929

Binding: Hardcover, Cloth

Loved this book as a kid, still love it now & want to keep reading the series. If only I had time. Reminds me a LOT of the Twenty-One Balloons!

(Read this for my Newbery class.)

As a sequel, I really appreciated that Lofting took the time to introduce us to his new character, Stubbins, before bringing us back to the Doctor. I read the first book when I was a kid, but honestly, didn't even remember it (or that this book WAS a sequel) until I did some research on the first 8 Newbery winners. (Felt kind of stupid, there.) The strength of this for people who have read the books in order is that Stubbins becomes a much more viable character to them - the book no longer is just about John Dolittle, it's about his relationship with Tommy Stubbins. The introduction of Stubbins' character tells children of all ages, myself included, that it's possible to discover & follow dreams you never even knew you had. Of course, there are some tell-tale signs of the times in which the book was written - the monkey being able to pass as a black man and safely travel, the black man traveling with them as a chef, the Red Indians being unable to care for themselves properly and requiring the assistance of John Dolittle, the powerful, civilized, strong savior White Man. But really... this was an awesome book to read. If I had the time, I would go back and read all the adventures of John Dolittle. Maybe I'll make it a monthly project - read one Dolittle! A coworker of mine absolutely LOVES everything Dolittle, and is adamant that the editions should not be made PC because they are indicative of the time in which Lofting wrote them. As she says, "[the prince Bumpo] is well educated, which for his era was unheard of and considered fantasy - a black African getting a European education like he was a human or something." The book keeps it's weight & merit today mostly as a read-aloud - because of the potential issues with the political correctness, I think it'd be better for a kid to read it aloud with a grown-up.

The origin of the Dolittle absolutely amazing - the letters Lofting wrote to his children in lieu of writing them horror stories from the war... then the kids demanding pictures to accompany the adventures. Information about this creation should be included in all the volumes - I think kids would love to know about it! ( )