Available Formats
Paperback
Published: 15th November 2001
Hardback
Published: 25th July 2019
Paperback
Published: 2nd December 2013
Paperback
Published: 15th October 2018
Hardback
Published: 9th June 2021
The Story Of Doctor Dolittle
By (Author) Hugh Lofting
Penguin Random House Children's UK
Red Fox
15th November 2001
1st November 2001
United Kingdom
Children
Fiction
823.912
Paperback
176
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 12mm
127g
The classic story of the extraordinary animal doctor from Puddleby-on-the-Marsh - Doctor Dolittle. 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. Doctor Dolittle likes animals. In fact, he likes them so much he fills his house with every kind of creature imaginable and even learns to talk their language. And when the Doctor hears of a terrible sickness among the monkeys in Africa, soon he and his animal friends are setting off on the most unforgettable adventure . . .
'A work of Genius. It is the first real children's classic since Alice.' -Hugh Walpole.
Hugh Lofting was born in Maidenhead in 1886. As a child he kept a miniature zoo and wildlife museum in his mother's linen cupboard and enjoyed making up stories for his family. He later studied engineering in London and the United States, and visited Canada, Africa and the West Indies. After his marriage in 1912 he settled in the United States. Hugh Lofting fought in the trenches during World War I and it was whilst observing the lack of compassion shown to the horses on the battlefields that the idea for Doctor Dolittle was born. He was the main character in letters Hugh sent home from the front to entertain his children. The successful publication of The Story of Doctor Dolittle in 1920 was followed by a further eleven books. In 1923 Hugh Lofting was awarded the Newbery Medal. He died in 1947.