Doctor Dolittle isn't a normal doctor . . . He doesn't treat humans – he treats animals instead! He loves animals so much that his busy house in Puddleby-on-the-Marsh is full of every creature imaginable – from parrots to pigs, monkeys to dogs and many more – and very soon he even learns how to speak their language. The doctor's animal friends are quick to tell him that the monkeys in Africa have become infected with a terrible disease, so with a team of trusty creatures by his side the kind-hearted doctor sets off on an action-packed adventure to save them.Hugh Lofting's The Story of Doctor Dolittle is one of the most fun, delightful and imaginative stories in children's literature. Featuring the eccentric doctor who learns to talk to animals, the novel has been adapted as a major film starring Robert Downey Jr., Emma Thompson and Selena Gomez. This beautiful paperback edition is illustrated with original line drawing from Hugh Lofting himself and contains engaging bonus material such as a quiz and a word search.

Hugh Lofting was born in Maidenhead in 1886. He studied engineering in London and America and his work as a civil engineer took him all over the world. He interrupted his career to enlist in the army and fight in the First World War. Wanting to shield his children from the horrors of combat, including the fate of horses on the battlefield, he wrote to them instead about a kindly doctor who could talk to animals. After the war he settled with his family in Connecticut and it was from there that he published his Doctor Dolittle books. The Story of Doctor Dolittle was published in 1920, followed by twelve more in the series. The highly acclaimed author died in 1947.