Hugh Lofting

Author profile

born

in Maidenhead, The United Kingdom

January 14, 1886

died

September 26, 1942

gender

male

genre

Children's Books, Poetry

About this author

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Hugh Lofting was a British author, trained as a civil engineer, who created the character of Doctor Dolittle — one of the classics of children's literature.

Lofting was born in Maidenhead, England, to English and Irish parents. His early education was at Mount St Mary's College in Sheffield, after which he went to the United States, completing a degree in civil engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He traveled widely as a civil engineer before enlisting in the Irish Guards to serve in World War I. Not wishing to write to his children of the brutality of the war, he wrote imaginative letters that were the foundation of the successful Doctor Dolittle novels for children. Seriously wounded in the war, he moved with his family...more Hugh Lofting was a British author, trained as a civil engineer, who created the character of Doctor Dolittle — one of the classics of children's literature.

Lofting was born in Maidenhead, England, to English and Irish parents. His early education was at Mount St Mary's College in Sheffield, after which he went to the United States, completing a degree in civil engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He traveled widely as a civil engineer before enlisting in the Irish Guards to serve in World War I. Not wishing to write to his children of the brutality of the war, he wrote imaginative letters that were the foundation of the successful Doctor Dolittle novels for children. Seriously wounded in the war, he moved with his family to Connecticut in the United States. Lofting was married three times and had three children, one of whom, his son Christopher, is the executor of his literary estate.

"For years it was a constant source of shock to me to find my writings amongst 'juveniles,'" Lofting reported. "It does not bother me any more now, but I still feel there should be a category of 'seniles' to offset the epithet."

Doctor Dolittle
Hugh Lofting's doctor from Puddleby-on-the-Marsh who could speak to animals first saw light in the author's illustrated letters to children, written from the trenches during World War I when actual news, he later said, was either too horrible or too dull. The stories are set in early Victorian England, (in and around the 1840s, according to a date given in The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle). The Story of Doctor Dolittle: Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts Never Before Printed (1920) began the series and won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958.The sequel, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922), won Lofting the prestigious Newbery Medal. Eight more books followed, and after Lofting's death two more volumes, composed of short unpublished pieces, appeared. The series has been adapted for film and television many times, for stage twice, and for radio.
Other Works for Children
The Story of Mrs Tubbs (1923) and Tommy, Tilly, and Mrs. Tubbs (1936) are picture books aimed at a younger audience than the Doctor Dolittle books. They concern the titular old woman, her pets (with whom she can speak) and the animals who help her out of trouble.

Porridge Poetry (1924) is the only non-Dolittle work by Lofting still in print. It is a lighthearted, colorfully illustrated book of poems for children.

Noisy Nora (1929) is a cautionary tale about a girl who is a noisy eater. The book is printed as if hand-written, and the many illustrations often merge with the text.

The Twilight of Magic (1930) is aimed at older readers. It is set in an age when magic is dying and science is beginning. This work is the only one of Lofting's books to be illustrated by another person (Lois Lenski).
Victory for the Slain
Victory for the Slain (1942) is Lofting's only work for adults, a single long poem in seven parts about the futility of war; the refrain "In war the only victors are the slain" permeates the poem. It was published only in the United Kingdom.(less)

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Hugh Lofting's Books

Average rating: 3.95 · 27,195 ratings · 565 reviews · 62 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Story of Doctor Dolittle (Doctor Dolittle, #1) by Hugh Lofting, Michael Hague (Illustrator) 3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 avg rating — 18,756 ratings — published 1920 — 117 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (Doctor Dolittle, #2) by Hugh Lofting, Michael Hague (Illustrations) 3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 avg rating — 5,965 ratings — published 1922 — 91 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Doctor Dolittle's Circus (Doctor Dolittle, #4) 3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 avg rating — 392 ratings — published 1924 — 17 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Doctor Dolittle's Zoo (Doctor Dolittle, #5) 3.77 of 5 stars 3.77 avg rating — 264 ratings — published 1928 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Doctor Dolittle's Post Office (Doctor Dolittle, #3) 3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 avg rating — 228 ratings — published 1923 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Doctor Dolittle's Return (Doctor Dolittle, #9) 3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 avg rating — 232 ratings — published 1933 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Doctor Dolittle in the Moon (Doctor Dolittle, #8) 3.77 of 5 stars 3.77 avg rating — 214 ratings — published 1928 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Doctor Dolittle's Garden (Doctor Dolittle, #7) 3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 avg rating — 186 ratings — published 1927 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Doctor Dolittle and the Green Canary (Doctor Dolittle, #11) 3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 avg rating — 170 ratings — published 1950 — 14 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Doctor Dolittle's Caravan (Doctor Dolittle, #6) 3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 avg rating — 154 ratings — published 1926 — 8 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Hugh Lofting…

Series by Hugh Lofting

Doctor Dolittle (14 books)
by Hugh Lofting
3.9458783102379265 of 5 stars 3.95 avg rating — 26,773 ratings

Quotes by Hugh Lofting

“What is war?' I asked.
Oh, it's a messy, stupid business,' he said, 'Two sides wave flags and beat drums and shoot one another dead. It always begins this way, making speeches, talking about rights, and all that sort of thing.'
But what is it for? What do they get out of it?'
I don't know,' he said. 'To tell you the truth, I don't think they know themselves.”
― Hugh Lofting, Doctor Dolittle and the Green Canary

tags: war

12 people liked it

“I suppose once you've been accused of being a witch, you're never really safe. People may blame all sorts of accidents and misfortunes on you.”
― Hugh Lofting, The Twilight of Magic

2 people liked it

“(S)ome people you will always have about you whom you can trust, and no man these days can boast of more than that. Remember them; forget the others.”
― Hugh Lofting, The Twilight of Magic

1 person liked it

See all Hugh Lofting's quotes »

Polls

What Newbery Medal winning book would you like to read in September?

1982 - A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers by Nancy Willard

6 votes 37.5%

1952 - Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes

4 votes 25.0%

1923 - The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting

3 votes 18.8%

1958 - Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith

2 votes 12.5%

1942 - The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds

1 vote 6.3%

16 total votes

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