[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]
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Have you ever wished that you could talk with your pet? Doctor Dolittle is the story of a man who learns to talk with all sorts of different animals. He works very hard to help animals around the world, and has many adventures with them. This novel begins with the dedication “To all children / Children in years and children in heart / I dedicate this story.” It is true that Doctor Dolittle was written as a children’s story, but it is a literary classic that adults can enjoy as well.
This is the first book in a series of novels. It has also been turned into many movies, beginning with Doctor Dolittle in 1967, and most recently Dolittle in 2020 with Robert Downey J. in the lead (https://www.imdb.com/video/vi267763481/?playlistId=tt6673612&ref_=tt_pr_ov_vi).
Doctor Dolittle was written in 1920 in England, and so there are a few old-fashioned words. However, there is a glossary in the back of the book to help you. Also, you can read about the main characters in the back of the book before jumping into the story.
My two cents: This is an interesting example of a recent trend in publishing. The story is very old, and originally had some racist scenes. Today, the publisher has chanced a little bit of the text and illustrations so that they are not offensive.
