''The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle'' is the second of

Hugh Lofting Hugh John Lofting (14 January 1886 – 26 September 1947) was an English American writer trained as a civil engineer, who created the classic children's literature character Doctor Dolittle. The fictional physician to talking animals, based in a ...

Doctor Dolittle Doctor John Dolittle is the central character of a series of children's books by Hugh Lofting starting with the 1920 ''The Story of Doctor Dolittle''. He is a physician who shuns human patients in favour of animals, with whom he can speak in the ...

books. Published in 1922, the writing style is aimed at a more mature audience and features more sophisticated illustrations than its predecessor. The novel's scope is vast; it is nearly five times as long as its predecessor and is divided into six parts. It won the

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

for 1923. Along with other novels in the series, it was adapted into the 1967 film ''

''.

Plot

In England, Tommy Stubbins (the narrator) finds a squirrel injured by a hawk. Matthew Mugg, the Cat's-Meat Man, suggests he seek help from Doctor Dolittle, who can speak to animals. The Doctor is away on a voyage, but when he returns, he attends the squirrel. Tommy is introduced to some of the strange animals in Dolittle's care, such as the Wiff-Waff fish, and those who care for his household, such as Dab-Dab the duck, and Jip the dog. Polynesia the parrot, who arrives in Puddleby from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, informs the Doctor that Bumpo is studying in Bullford. Tommy begins his studies with Dolittle, or rather with Polynesia, who teaches Tommy the language of animals. Chee-Chee comes from Africa disguised as a lady and tells Puddleby about his voyage. The Doctor acquires The Curlew and is thinking of taking Tommy, Polynesia, and Luke the Hermit. They find out from the Hermit's dog, Bob, that Luke was sent to prison for murder. During court proceedings, Dolittle proves to the judge he can talk to animals by talking to Bob, an animal witness, and translates Bob's story to English. The judge concludes that the Hermit is innocent. Later, the Purple Bird of Paradise informs the Doctor that Long Arrow, son of Golden Arrow (a friend of the Doctor) is missing. They play the game Blind Travel, which would determine where in the world they would voyage. They decide to take a trip to

Spider Monkey Spider monkeys are New World monkeys belonging to the genus ''Ateles'', part of the subfamily Atelinae, family Atelidae. Like other atelines, they are found in tropical forests of Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Brazil. The g ...

Island to find Long Arrow. The Doctor, Tommy, Bumpo, and Polynesia start the voyage across the sea, but they discover stowaways and leave them at

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

. They subsequently stop in the Capa Blanca islands of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The Doctor makes a deal with the

bullfighter A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

s that if he can win a fight against them, they will stop bullfighting. Bumpo makes a

side bet Side or Sides may refer to: Geometry * Edge (geometry) of a polygon (two-dimensional shape) * Face (geometry) of a polyhedron (three-dimensional shape) Places * Side (Ainis), a town of Ainis, ancient Thessaly, Greece * Side (Caria), a town of ...

of 3,000 pesetas that the Doctor will win. The Doctor talks to the bulls and they agreed to stick to the plan to make everyone think that he outwitted them. When the fight is over and the doctor wins against the other bullfighters, the crew resumes their voyage. The Doctor shows Tommy he has caught a fidget that talks English, so he consults it and realizes that if he goes deeper, he will find the Great Glass Sea Snail. A storm wrecks the ship, leaving Tommy alone. The Purple Bird of Paradise tells him that his friends are on Spider Monkey Island. With the help of some

porpoise Porpoises are a group of fully aquatic marine mammals, all of which are classified under the family Phocoenidae, parvorder Odontoceti (toothed whales). Although similar in appearance to dolphins, they are more closely related to narwhals an ...

s, Tommy reaches the island and the crew. Dolittle learns after catching a Jabizri, a rare beetle, that Long Arrow is stuck inside Hawk's Head Mountain. They try to find an opening, but they fail. They use the Jabizri to locate it. When they find a slab in the mountain, they dig under it until it collapses, and Long Arrow is free. The Doctor learns from the people of the island that the island is moving southward and is about to perish, so the Doctor asks some

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

s to push it back to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. After this, the Doctor is told by the Popsipetels, the people of the island, that they will be attacked soon by their rivals the Bag-jagderags. The Doctor uses the birds of the island as well as the Popsipetels to battle the Bag-jagderags. The Doctor and his army win. The people then decide to crown him king. For many months, the doctor rules the island and makes good changes for the Popsipetels. Polynesia finds the Great Glass Sea Snail and brings her to Dolittle. He talks to the Great Glass Sea Snail and learns that it is because of the island colliding with South America that it ends up on the shores of Spider Monkey Island. The Doctor, Polynesia, Tommy, Matthew, Chee-Chee and Jip leave Spider Monkey Island. They journey to England through the ocean in the shell of the Great Glass Sea Snail. They return to Puddleby, and, at the doctor's house, Dab-Dab says they are just in time for tea.

Characters

* Tommy Stubbins – narrator of the story who becomes Doctor Dolittle's assistant. * Doctor Dolittle – the Doctor who can talk to animals. * Mathew Mugg – the cat's meat man who knows everyone in Puddleby. * Joe – the man who finds Tommy and Doctor Dolittle a boat for their journey. * Luke the Hermit – a man accused of murder before he joins the Doctor's voyage. * Chee-Chee – a chimp who comes from Africa and is a friend of the Doctor. * Dab-Dab – a duck who is the Doctor's housekeeper. * Bumpo – an African prince who comes to England to study. * Long Arrow – a naturalist who goes missing on Spidermonkey Island. * Jip – the Doctor's dog. * Polynesia – the Doctor's parrot. * Bob – Luke the Hermit's dog who claims his innocence. * The Great Glass Sea Snail – the giant snail who takes the Doctor and his crew in its shell back to England. * Colonel Bellowes – a snobby man who briefly appears at the beginning of the book. * Miranda – beautiful Purple Bird-Of-Paradise from the south.

References

External links

* *
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
at

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(formatted HTML with illustrations)
''The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle''
at

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(scanned, colour, illustrated books) *
Discussion of changes between original and bowdlerized versions of ''The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Voyages Of Doctor Dolittle 1922 British novels 1922 fantasy novels Doctor Dolittle books Newbery Medal–winning works British children's novels J. B. Lippincott & Co. books Novels set on islands Fiction set in 1839 British novels adapted into films 1922 children's books

Plot

Characters

See also

References

External links