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.