[.ca] The Story of Doctor Dolittle (ISBN 0440483077)

You may WANT the "adulterated" edition:
As you read these reviews, be aware that the "non-PC" material in the original includes an African begging Dr. Dolittle to make him white, since being black makes him unattractive. While Lofting didn't mean to be hurtful and was simply a product of the world in which he lived, you may feel that you can do better for your children than to send them off into today's world with the notion that white people are more attractive and that black people all wish they were white. If nothing else, the fact that they identify Eddie Murphy with the good doctor may render the "unadulterated" version of the book quite strange to them!

The Story of Doctor Dolittle:
The Story of Doctor Dolittle By: Hugh Lofting Reviewed by: R Bhatt Period 6 This book is about the life of an ordinary doctor named John Dolittle. He is a doctor for people but later on becomes one for animals. Dr. Dolittle possesses one unusual gift. It is the ability to talk to animals. He helps many different animals. He journeys to Africa to treat a sickness that is killing many monkeys. There he has many adventures. I really liked this book because it is all make believe and adventure. I really like adventure books. They are very exciting to read. They never let you get bored reading them. It is also funny in some parts of the story too. This makes you not want to stop. I also like the characters. They come to life in this book. They also become a part of you when you are reading. My favorite character was Jip the dog. He was a main character and sometimes he is really funny. I also like Polynesia the parrot because she helps the doctor many times in the book. My favorite part is when the Barbary pirates are stuck on the old sinking ship. That part is really funny and exciting to read. Ben Ali the leader wants to kill Dr. Dolittle but doesn't succeed. He and his pirates have to become birdseed farmers on the Canary island. This I like this part because the animals help doctor Dolittle out. They are very nice to him because he is their friend.

Beware, this edition is adulterated:
Dr. Doolittle fell afoul of the PC police, before they were so named. This edition has been adulterated to maintain political correctness and there is no indication of this unless you read the afterword. Great story, bad edition.

A classic that makes children think outside the box.:
I grew up with Hugh Lofting's books and wanted my children to read them. As Dr. Dolittle learns to communicate with animals, we begin to think about feelings and habits of individuals very different from ourselves. Dr. Dolittle did not fit in with many of the stuffier aspects of British society. Thus, he was a miserable failure as a human doctor. His animals recognized his caring spirit and taught him to become an outstanding animal doctor. The stories contain suspense and adventure but there is little explicit violence. The animal characters, Jip the dog, Gub Gub the pig, Polinesia the parrot each have their own personalities and become friends with the reader. Hugh Lofting was an Englishman of the early 20th century. As such, he used some troubling phrases that might be considered racist. Much of this seems to have been deleted or modified in the current version of this book. I wanted my children to read all of the other Dr. Dolittle books. Unfortunately most of them are out of print. Thank goodness,I was able to find a number of the other titles in the Amazon.com used book section.

A SUPER GREAT BOOK!:
It was so neat how Dr. Doolittle was able to talk to animals! The push-me pull-yu is very funny because it has 2 heads. I loved the way the doctor figured out how to help all the monkeys! It was also cool how the animals helped the doctor too - like when Jip the dog helped figure out where the boy's uncle was. I can't wait to read the next book (VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOOLITTLE) and see the movie. I've only seen the one with Eddie Murphy so far and this is different! (My mom loved reading this book with me too and she wants me to say that it's also lots of fun for grownups!)