Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von The Story of Doctor Dolittle
Go deeper: the whole of The Story of Doctor Dolittle
About 1 h 50 min to read.Für wen es gedacht ist
Readers who enjoy warmhearted animal adventures, quick humour and sea voyages will love this book. It also delights those who like clever creatures and a gentle hero who treats every animal as a friend.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
What would you do if your pets could tell you exactly where it hurts? In The Story of Doctor Dolittle, a kind doctor in the small English town of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh learns that animals have languages of their own, and his whole life changes. Soon a plow horse is asking him for green glasses, and a swallow arrives in midwinter with news of a deadly sickness among the monkeys of Africa.
Hugh Lofting wrote the book for children.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A kind doctor loses patients but keeps animalsFree
- 2A parrot teaches the Doctor to speak animal
- 3A call from Africa brings shipwreck and a jungle king
- 4The sick monkeys recover and a rare gift is chosen
- 5Clever friends turn pirates into birdseed farmers
- 6A dog's nose and an owl's ears find a lost uncle
- 7Kindness, money and the skill of animals drive the story
- 8Warm humour and plain explanations shape the telling
Punkt 1 von 8
A kind doctor loses patients but keeps animals
John Dolittle, a physician, lives in a small house at the edge of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. His garden is large and his house is crowded. A hedgehog lives in the cellar, a squirrel in the linen closet, rabbits in the pantry and white mice in the piano. He loves best the owl Too-Too, the parrot Polynesia, the pig Gub-Gub, the dog Jip and the duck Dab-Dab.
His sister Sarah keeps house for him, and she is not pleased. One day an old lady with rheumatism sits down on the sleeping hedgehog and never comes back. Sarah warns him that none of the best people will have him as their doctor. The Doctor answers that he likes the animals better than the best people.
Patients melt away until only the Cat's-meat-Man is left, who pays sixpence once a year for a bottle of medicine. The Doctor sells his piano, and then his brown Sunday suit, to feed his pets.
The Doctor does not chase fashion or money, and he cannot turn away a creature that has found a home with him. The animals worry for him, and that care drives the story on.
The first lesson is that kindness to every creature wins a loyalty money cannot buy.
That’s 1 of 8 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Go deeper: the whole of The Story of Doctor Dolittle
About 1 h 50 min to read.Who’s who
- Doctor John Dolittle
- A kind, shabby doctor of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh who learns animal languages and wants only to help sick creatures, whatever the cost to his purse.
- Polynesia
- A very old, quick-witted parrot who teaches the Doctor animal language and uses her talent for mimicry to get her friends out of trouble.
- Jip
- A proud, sharp-tongued dog with an astonishing nose who wants to prove he is cleverer than any bird.
- Dab-Dab
- A sensible duck who runs the household, worries about money and bills, and scolds the Doctor for being too soft.
- Chee-Chee
- A monkey the Doctor rescues from an organ grinder who knows every jungle path and longs to see Africa again.
- Too-Too
- An owl who is good at arithmetic and has such sharp ears that he can hear a hand move in a pocket.
- Gub-Gub
- A greedy, easily frightened baby pig who is always thinking of his next meal and often gets in the way.
- Prince Bumpo
- The King's son, who reads fairy tales and dreams of becoming a white prince so the Sleeping Beauty will marry him.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 28,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 1 h 55 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about The Story of Doctor Dolittle
What is The Story of Doctor Dolittle about?
It tells of John Dolittle, a doctor in an English town who learns animal languages from his parrot Polynesia. He sails to Africa to cure sick monkeys, escapes a jungle king and pirates, and finds a rare two-headed animal along the way.
What is a pushmi-pullyu?
It is an imaginary animal with no tail and a head at each end. In the book it is very shy, cannot be sneaked up on, and speaks with one mouth while it eats with the other, to stay polite.
Who are the main animals in Doctor Dolittle?
The Doctor's closest friends are Polynesia the parrot, Jip the dog, Dab-Dab the duck, Gub-Gub the pig, Too-Too the owl and Chee-Chee the monkey. Each has a clear voice and a special skill that helps on the voyage.
Is The Story of Doctor Dolittle easy to read?
Yes, in the sense of its clear style. The chapters are short, the language is plain, and the jokes and dialogue move quickly, so it works well as a book for reading aloud to children or reading alone.
What is the main message of Doctor Dolittle?
The book shows that kindness and listening matter more than money or status. The Doctor treats every creature with respect, and in return the animals use their own talents to help him, whether in the jungle, at sea or at home.
Cite this edition
Lofting, Hugh. The Story of Doctor Dolittle. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-doctor-dolittle.
Lofting, H. (2026). The story of Doctor Dolittle. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-doctor-dolittle (Original work published 1920)
Lofting, Hugh. The Story of Doctor Dolittle. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-doctor-dolittle.
@book{lofting2026story,
author = {Lofting, Hugh},
title = {The Story of Doctor Dolittle},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-doctor-dolittle},
note = {First published 1920}
}
