Inscribed: “Bruce Diven Judd, from Grandad an Gran, September 28, 1957”
Many illustrations

A classic this should not be. The parrot redeems it, maybe. ( )

Too irreverent for me. It's a story of an insufferable doctor who learns ALL animal languages from a parrot (yet he's the only one, even though there's no particular reason why no one else ever learned from parrots, nevermind why parrots are language omnipotent). No animal has a behavioral resemblance to there own kind--which exaggerates to an awkward level in um...non-British humans...

Once he has enough exotic animals living with him, the locals start staying away and not paying him for veterinary services, so the animals go full-Disney and do all the chores. Monkeys in Africa get sick of some rampant disease, so the Doctor and the main cast of animals travel to Africa, where blacks want to be white, have British political systems, and some other things that make me laugh because surely a lot of reviews would be raging about inappropriate racial and cultural implications...to put it politely. But fortunately for the progression of the story, humans are incredibly dumbed down, so the Doctor and the animals get away with a lot.

It's like reading Swiss Family Robinson. I couldn't find any ground to root my beliefs. Fantasy and children's fiction, when written well, are still internally believable enough for adults to enjoy, but sometimes it just doesn't work. For me, this really didn't work. ( )

I know my dislike for this book mostly comes from when I read it. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had read it when I was in elementary school. ( )

The Hugh Lofting Doctor Dolittle stories are classics that stand the test of time. I really enjoy them and find them clever and enjoyable. I think the writing can be seen as a bit dated but I think it's still extremely readable. ( )