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Title: The Story of Doctor Dolittle (Yearling Book)
ISBN: 0440483077
Author:
Hugh Lofting
Publicate Date: 1969-01-15
Publish: 1969-01-15
List Price: $6.50
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $2.49
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.01
Amazon Merchant Price: $6.50
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Brisk, Brief, and to the Point
And what does Hugh Lofting's _The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle_ (1920) have to do with reviews that are usually science fictional? A lot. There is plenty of children's literature that has elements of the fantastic. And if you are looking for a precedent, Baird Searles reviewed the first two Dolittle books in _Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine_ back in 1989, when Dell was reissuing the series.
_The Story of Doctor Dolittle_ is the first novel in the series, and, I would argue, the best. Like the other books, it is imaginative, humorous, and original. And like the other books, it has the charming illustrations by the author. But unlike the others, it is brief. The writing is brisk and tight. You frequently sense that Lofting is getting straight down to business:
So it was agreed that the monkey, Chee-Chee, was to do the cooking and mending; the dog was to sweep the floors; the duck was to dust and make the beds; the owl, Too-Too, was to keep accounts; and the pig was to do gardening. They made Polynesia, the parrot, housekeeper and laundress because she was the oldest. (25)
Things are done in the way that children would do them, without a lot of planning. The Doctor receives word from a sparrow that some monkeys on an island near Africa need his help. They need to buy tickets. But when the Doctor checks his money box, he finds that it is empty. So he borrows a ship from a sailor. But they need supplies-- hardtack, canned food, rope, and a bell. So the sailor buys it for them on credit. In short order, they begin the voyage:
The cat's-meat man was there to see them off; and he brought a large suet pudding as a present for the Doctor because, he said he had been told, you couldn't get suet puddings in foreign parts.
As soon as they were on the ship, Gub-Gub, the pig, asked where the beds were, for it was four o'clock in the afternoon and he wanted his nap. (31)
There follow adventures with an African king and queen, a bridge of monkeys, the Pushmi-Pullyu, six Barbary pirates, and some ocean gossips. This is the ideal book with which to introduce children to the good Doctor and his animal friends.
There is an old introduction by Hugh Walpole written for the twentieth printing of the novel. In her excellent critical study of children's literature, _The Green and Burning Tree_ (1969), Eleanor Cameron argues that this introduction contains a string of nonsensical assertions: that Lofting was a literary genius; that the animals in Kenneth Graham's _The Wind in the Willows_ are not completely believable, and that _Dr. Dolittle_ is the first children's classic since _Alice_. (What about the works of E. Nesbit, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson, Beatrix Potter, or George MacDonald?) But if Walpole is wrong on his details, he is right about his main argument: _The Story of Doctor Dolittle_ is an honest-to-goodness classic of children's literature.
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2: Free SF Reader
A book designed for young kids, in general.
A doctor discovers how to talk to his animals, thanks to his rather intelligent parrot. This leads him to giving away the boring old mundane practice of human medicine and going to work on something that is a lot more suited to his pretty unique talents.
He ends up in Africa, along with some other adventures.
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3: Deceptive and Shallow "Politically Correct" Version
I am a huge fan of the original Hugh Lofting Dr. Dolittle and not this shallow abridged version. A good part of the story is cut and the history is mutilated. The illustrations are obviously not complete Hugh Loftings even though they still bear his name. Many of his illustrations have been cut and pasted blending them with some weird Victorian style prints. The result is a jumbled mishmash. As a kid, I'm offended that they would take a wonderful piece of literature and trample it with political correctness jargon. There are things said in the original version that I understand would not be appropriate today. But it was a part or our history. And it gives a great opportunity for discussions with parents. As for this story, what is left? The character depth is ruined. The vocabulary is rudimentary. Utter trash. Don't waste your time. Original unabridged or nothing.
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4: Good book with simple sentences
Doctor Dolittle was a human doctor once. But he liked animals very much. Then when his pets grew many, people didn't like them and didn't visit him. But one of his pets taught him animal languages when he had almost no money. Then he decided he became an animal doctor.
This was the beginning of the adventure of Doctor Dolittle.
This book was written with simple words and simple sentences. Then I could read this book faster than usual.
Hugh Lofting wrote this story in the letter to his children for amusing them during World War One. After that this became this book, the first story of Dr. Dolittle. Finaly eight Doctor Dolittle books came out and the second book got the Newbery Medal. He was born in England. And he studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT.
At first I had start to read e-Book of this. And the introduction of the book said the illustrations in the book also written by author. Then I decided buying a paperback of this because the e-Book doesn't have pictures.
This is a good book. It's easy to understand as I already said. I strongly recommend reading this book.
Happy Reading!
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5: A Quick Summary
The book I am going to do my report on is Doctor Dolittle. It is a book about an animal doctor. He has many pets but loves to get more. One day he went to Africa to heal all the sick monkeys. When he was coming home, he met the Pirates of Barbary. That's all! It was a good book and I recommend you read it.
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