The Story of Doctor Dolittle

The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting is a classic children’s book first published in 1920. Lofting, an English author and former civil engineer, crafted his tale of an eccentric doctor who learns to talk to animals by drawing on his experiences in the British Empire during World War I. Lofting’s story, which began as letters home to his children to escape the harsh wartime realities, belongs to the fantasy genre and has captivated generations with its imaginative storyline. It explores themes of the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Adventure and Exploration, and The Impact of Human Activity on Nature. Notably, it won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award and has been adapted into multiple films and stage productions.

However, readers today must navigate the text’s colonial overtones and racist depictions of African people, which are reflective of its white Western European historical perspective. Written during the peak of Britain’s colonial era, the book reflects the period’s prevailing attitudes, including negative depictions of Indigenous Africans, racial slurs, and resource exploitation.

These elements are now recognized as highly inappropriate, and later editions, including the one used in this guide, often bowdlerize or remove contentious passages.

This guide refers to the 1988 Yearling, Random House Children’s Books edition.

Content Warning: This guide describes and discusses the source text’s treatment of colonialist attitudes, which it portrays in a positive light, and its outdated and offensive depictions of Indigenous Africans, which rely on racist stereotypes.

Plot Summary

The Story of Doctor Dolittle is the first in a series of books about the adventures of Doctor John Dolittle, a clever and kind-hearted doctor who learns to speak with animals. Living with his sister, Sarah, in the small English town of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, Dolittle’s love for animals leads him to fill his home with various pets, including Dab-Dab the duck, Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the pig, Polynesia the parrot, and Too-Too the owl. As his collection of animals grows, his house becomes untidy, leading to complaints from his sister and causing patients to avoid him, threatening his financial stability. The only patient he has left is the Cat’s-Meat Man, who suggests Dolittle give up being a human doctor and become an animal doctor instead. Inspired by this suggestion and encouraged by his parrot, Polynesia, Dolittle begins to study animal languages and soon becomes a renowned doctor among animals.

Dolittle’s fame among animals spreads worldwide, and more animals come to live with him including an alligator and a monkey named Chee-Chee. One night, Chee-Chee brings urgent news of a terrible sickness affecting monkeys in Africa. Determined to help, Dolittle sells his remaining belongings and borrows a boat to afford the journey. He sets sail with his animal crew, and despite encountering bad weather and being shipwrecked, they eventually reach Africa. There, they are taken to the King of Jolliginki, who, mistrustful of Europeans, imprisons them. Polynesia devises a plan to escape by tricking the king into believing that Dolittle is a powerful wizard. The plan succeeds, and they continue their journey to the monkey kingdom.

Upon arrival, Dolittle sets up a makeshift hospital and treats the sick monkeys with the help of the reluctant Leader of the Lions and other animals. After curing the monkeys, Dolittle learns that he must return to Puddleby to pay off debts. The monkeys gift him a rare pushmi-pullyu to help him financially. With this gift, Dolittle and his companions bid farewell and start their journey home, cautiously passing through the land of the Jolliginki. They become lost in the forest and inadvertently wander into the king’s garden, where they are captured and once again imprisoned. Polynesia, the clever parrot, devises a plan to hypnotize Jollinginki’s son, Prince Bumpo, and convince him to free them. The plan works, and Prince Bumpo unlocks the prison doors, allowing Dolittle and his companions to escape.

During Dolittle’s return voyage, they encounter a pirate ship off the coast of Barbary. With the help of the swallows, they manage to evade the pirates temporarily but must dock on an island for the swallows to rest. On the island, Dolittle learns from rats aboard, that their ship is in bad condition and that the Barbary pirates have boarded it. Dolittle and his animals decide to use the unguarded pirates’ ship to escape, but Gub-Gub the pig sneezes, alerting the pirates. Dolittle manages to delay the pirates long enough for their original ship to begin sinking, forcing the pirates to agree to give up piracy and become birdseed farmers on the island.

Continuing their journey home on the pirate ship, Doctor Dolittle discovers a locked door with faint noises behind it. Inside, they find an eight-year-old boy who was kidnapped and held hostage by the pirates. When the young boy explains that his uncle is missing, Dolittle sends a swallow to gather information about the boy’s uncle, who was last seen in a nearby village. Using Jip the dog’s keen sense of smell they track the uncle’s scent to a large rock where he is trapped inside a cave. Dolittle rescues the uncle and reunites him with his nephew. The villagers celebrate Dolittle’s bravery, presenting him with gifts, including a diamond-studded watch and a special collar for Jip. Dolittle and his animals then travel through the countryside, displaying the pushmi-pullyu at fairs. After tiring of the entertainer life, they return to Puddleby, where Dolittle uses his newfound wealth to repair his home and settle debts. The Doctor and his animals spend a cozy winter at home, while the monkeys in Africa wonder when he will return.