Summary
Summary of The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A gentle doctor opens another world
Hugh Lofting began the Dolittle stories in letters to his children while serving as a soldier in the First World War. Instead of sending grim news, he imagined a gentle doctor who could speak with animals. That kindness shapes the adventure from the start.
The guide is Tommy Stubbins, a curious boy from Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. Through his eyes, a small village opens onto a world of animal conversations, friendship and travel, where caring about other creatures matters as much as discovering something new.
Key idea 2
Tommy wants more than village gossip
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Key idea 3
The Doctor takes every creature seriously
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Key idea 4
Learning begins with careful attention
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Key idea 5
Curiosity carries the crew to sea
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Key idea 6
Kindness helps the companions work together
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Key idea 7
Tommy makes the wonders feel believable
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Key idea 8
Attention turns a watcher into a helper
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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 Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
About 5 h to read.Who it’s for
For families who love read-aloud adventures, adults who remember Doctor Dolittle fondly, and anyone who enjoys gentle stories about animals and the sea. Talking animals, warm humor, and kindness to living things make this a voyage to share.
What this book is
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle is a children's novel by Hugh Lofting, published in 1922. It won the Newbery Medal the next year. Lofting began the Dolittle stories in letters to his own children, written while he served as a soldier in the First World War. He thought that real war news was too grim for them, so he sent them a gentle doctor who speaks with animals.
This is the second book about the Doctor, but you need no earlier knowledge to enjoy it. The story is told by a boy, Tommy Stubbins, who is nine and a half and lives in the English village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. You get a small cast of warm, funny characters, a long voyage, and a quiet argument for kindness to all living things. Let us begin where Tommy begins, in a village, with a head full of questions.
In this summary
- 1A cobbler's sonFree
- 2Meeting the Doctor and his household
- 3Polynesia teaches a boy to listen
- 4The call of a great naturalist
- 5What the story is really about
- 6How the tale is told
Key point 1 of 6
A cobbler's son
The story opens in Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, a village beside a river, where Tommy Stubbins lives with his father, the cobbler. Tommy is nine and a half, and he is a curious boy. He tells us at the start that he is writing this book many years later, as a grown man looking back.
Tommy loves nature. He collects what he finds near the river and the marsh, and he watches birds and small creatures. He also wonders about the one man in the village whom everyone talks about, Doctor John Dolittle. People say the Doctor can speak to animals. Some laugh at this, and some are a little afraid of it.
Tommy is not afraid. He longs to learn about animals and see the world. The village gives him plenty of people who are willing to gossip. It also gives him a first step toward the Doctor's door, and the step comes from an unlikely helper.
This opening matters because Tommy is an honest guide. He does not pretend to know more than he does, and he tells us when he is puzzled or wrong. A reader can easily stand in his boots. The village is small and ordinary, so the strange things that happen later seem all the stranger by contrast.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
Who teaches Tommy to understand animal speech?
Right. “So Polynesia teaches Tommy to understand the speech of animals.”Not quite. “So Polynesia teaches Tommy to understand the speech of animals.”
Why does the Doctor want to meet Long Arrow?
Right. “The Doctor longs to meet him and to learn what he knows.”Not quite. “The Doctor longs to meet him and to learn what he knows.”
What helps the Doctor succeed?
Right. “The Doctor succeeds because he pays attention to creatures that other people ignore.”Not quite. “The Doctor succeeds because he pays attention to creatures that other people ignore.”
Go deeper: the whole of The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
About 5 h to read.Who’s who
- Tommy Stubbins
- Tommy is a curious cobbler's son who narrates the adventures and wants to learn animal speech.
- Doctor John Dolittle
- Doctor John Dolittle is a kind naturalist who treats animals and inspires Tommy's interest in their speech.
- Polynesia
- Polynesia is the Doctor's clever, widely travelled parrot, who teaches Tommy to understand animals.
- Matthew Mugg
- Matthew Mugg is a cheerful seller of animal meat and the Doctor's loyal friend, who introduces Tommy to him.
- Jip
- Jip is the Doctor's outspoken dog, whose strong opinions accompany a deep loyalty to his master.
- Gub-Gub
- Gub-Gub is the Doctor's food-loving pig, whose greedy and silly habits bring comedy to the household.
- Long Arrow
- Long Arrow is a gifted naturalist whom the Doctor admires and hopes to meet to exchange knowledge.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 77,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 5 h 5 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
What is The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle about?
It is about Tommy Stubbins, a boy from Puddleby-on-the-Marsh who meets Doctor Dolittle, learns to speak with animals, and joins the Doctor on a sea voyage full of discoveries.
Who tells the story in The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle?
Tommy Stubbins tells it. He is a cobbler's son who writes as an adult, looking back on the adventures he had at nine and a half with the Doctor.
Do I need to read the first Doctor Dolittle book first?
No. This second book works on its own, since Tommy is new to the Doctor and the reader learns about him alongside the boy.
When was The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle written?
Hugh Lofting published it in 1922, and it won the Newbery Medal in 1923. The Dolittle stories began as letters to his children during the First World War.
Is The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle suitable for children today?
It is a gentle, funny read-aloud adventure for many children.
