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Doctor Dolittle #7
Doctor Dolittle's Garden
Doctor Dolittle's garden is teeming with insects. So the Doctor decides to learn the insect languages and soon hears lots of fascinating stories. None is more fascinating than the tale of the giant moths, and the doctor starts to plan a trip to seek them out. But before he can set off, he is amazed by the arrival of one of these moths. What is the reason for the moth's visit?
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1927
10 people are currently reading
519 people want to read
About the author
Hugh Lofting
359 books182 followersHugh 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 19, 2008
Doctor Dolittle's Garden occupies an odd spot in the Dolittle series; it's a transitional book, covering the end of the multi-book "entertainment" plot (as I call it) and the Moon plot that followed.
The entertainment plot begins all the way back in the first book of the series, when the Pushmi-Pullyu goes home with the Doctor to help him make money to pay off his debts. It continues with the Dolittle Zoo and Caravan, the Puddleby Pantomime, and the Canary Opera. While the Doctor is, of course, himself always quite uninterested in money and even actively hostile to the concept ("Money! It's a curse."), the essential thrust of the entertainment plot is always how to make more of it.
The Moon plot, on the other hand, couldn't be more different: not only is money not a factor, but the Doctor literally leaves the whole world in which money matters behind. That portion of the series focuses exclusively on discovery, exploration, and adventure. It almost seems that the Doctor's sudden fascination with the Moon might be a reaction to the previous multi-book focus on money, which was always an irritant to the character!
Doctor Dolittle's Garden spans the change-over between the two story arcs. But it's quite an abrupt change, so much so that in many ways it's really almost two different books rather than one.
I've been reading the entire Dolittle series to my son. We started when he was five years old; now he's seven. I should explain that we haven't restricted ourselves to Dolittle only, of course, and we mostly read at bedtime. On some nights he falls asleep so quickly that we make no progress at all, because he tends to forget the last page or so that I read before he fell asleep (or rather, I don't always notice exactly when he fell asleep).
Anyway, this was a tough one to get through - so much so that even though we renewed the book once (it's a library book), it's still a week or so overdue. My son started getting a little bored towards the end of the first quarter of the book; roughly half-way through the "garden" portion, which could be considered the end of the entertainment story arc. It took a bit of determination on my part to get him to stick with the book, plus the promise that the Moon portion was coming up soon. I'd told him a little about the Moon plot about a year ago, and the idea captured his imagination quite powerfully.
In fact, as the Moon plot picked up steam, his attention likewise sharpened. We even began reading the book in the car during my morning commute (in part, I must admit, because I felt guilty at having kept the book out from the library for so long - and on inter-library loan, too!).
As always, Prince Bumpo of the Jolliginki was a favorite. It's a pity that so much of him has been censored out of modern editions; fortunately the copy from the library was an old one, and therefore uncensored. There was only one "Bumpoism" that I recall, but it got a lot of laughs.
I should emphasize here that I don't feel that Lofting's portrayal of Prince Bumpo was racist. Lofting was a creature of his time: a Englishman of the early 20th century, with the provicial outlook typical of the time and some attitudes about race that can seem quite jarring to modern eyes (I'm reminded of Agatha Christie's casual racism, but Lofting is far less offensive). Losting's drawings, admittedly, can be odd; they make Bumpo look more than half a giant chimpanzee. For example, there's a drawing of Bumpo in Doctor Dolittle's Garden that was so ape-like that my son remarked on it; he thought it was strange.
But Bumpo himself, for all that he's a comic character, is always clearly represented from the first book onward as good-hearted and brave, a friend to the Doctor and his animals - as witnessed by the fact that he is still a member of the Dolittle "family" many books later. And unlike the often-misbehaving Matthew Mugg (the Cat's-Meat-Man), Bumpo is always a trustworthy and staunch member of the family. Not that Matthew is bad, of course...he just has difficulty restraining his criminal tendencies (one of my son's favorite Dolittle memories is of the time that the Doctor goes to jail and finds Matthew's initials on his cell wall).
Bumpo does have a tendency to violence towards intruding outsiders, and in previous books there were some humorous references to cannibalism which were doubtless deleted from modern editions. But Bumpo, like Jim from Huckleberry Finn, has been the victim of perhaps well-intentioned but certainly misplaced censorship by over-nervous editors (including, alas, Lofting's son).
Once the Moon story is properly launched the pace of the plot picks up. My son regained his interest at that point. But fair warning: the book ends quite abruptly, and on what can only be called a cliffhanger. The Doctor and his companions are still hanging just above the surface of the Moon!
If you're just starting the Dolittle series, this book is not the place to start. Unless for some reason you want to restrict yourself to the Moon plot only - in which case, you'd probably want to start half-way through. But I wouldn't recommend it. Much better to start with the first book and progress in order throughout the series, even though it does tend to jump back and forth in time between books. That said, despite the slow patch in the first half or so, Doctor Dolittle's Garden is still an exciting, enjoyable book that my son and I both liked very much.
The entertainment plot begins all the way back in the first book of the series, when the Pushmi-Pullyu goes home with the Doctor to help him make money to pay off his debts. It continues with the Dolittle Zoo and Caravan, the Puddleby Pantomime, and the Canary Opera. While the Doctor is, of course, himself always quite uninterested in money and even actively hostile to the concept ("Money! It's a curse."), the essential thrust of the entertainment plot is always how to make more of it.
The Moon plot, on the other hand, couldn't be more different: not only is money not a factor, but the Doctor literally leaves the whole world in which money matters behind. That portion of the series focuses exclusively on discovery, exploration, and adventure. It almost seems that the Doctor's sudden fascination with the Moon might be a reaction to the previous multi-book focus on money, which was always an irritant to the character!
Doctor Dolittle's Garden spans the change-over between the two story arcs. But it's quite an abrupt change, so much so that in many ways it's really almost two different books rather than one.
I've been reading the entire Dolittle series to my son. We started when he was five years old; now he's seven. I should explain that we haven't restricted ourselves to Dolittle only, of course, and we mostly read at bedtime. On some nights he falls asleep so quickly that we make no progress at all, because he tends to forget the last page or so that I read before he fell asleep (or rather, I don't always notice exactly when he fell asleep).
Anyway, this was a tough one to get through - so much so that even though we renewed the book once (it's a library book), it's still a week or so overdue. My son started getting a little bored towards the end of the first quarter of the book; roughly half-way through the "garden" portion, which could be considered the end of the entertainment story arc. It took a bit of determination on my part to get him to stick with the book, plus the promise that the Moon portion was coming up soon. I'd told him a little about the Moon plot about a year ago, and the idea captured his imagination quite powerfully.
In fact, as the Moon plot picked up steam, his attention likewise sharpened. We even began reading the book in the car during my morning commute (in part, I must admit, because I felt guilty at having kept the book out from the library for so long - and on inter-library loan, too!).
As always, Prince Bumpo of the Jolliginki was a favorite. It's a pity that so much of him has been censored out of modern editions; fortunately the copy from the library was an old one, and therefore uncensored. There was only one "Bumpoism" that I recall, but it got a lot of laughs.
I should emphasize here that I don't feel that Lofting's portrayal of Prince Bumpo was racist. Lofting was a creature of his time: a Englishman of the early 20th century, with the provicial outlook typical of the time and some attitudes about race that can seem quite jarring to modern eyes (I'm reminded of Agatha Christie's casual racism, but Lofting is far less offensive). Losting's drawings, admittedly, can be odd; they make Bumpo look more than half a giant chimpanzee. For example, there's a drawing of Bumpo in Doctor Dolittle's Garden that was so ape-like that my son remarked on it; he thought it was strange.
But Bumpo himself, for all that he's a comic character, is always clearly represented from the first book onward as good-hearted and brave, a friend to the Doctor and his animals - as witnessed by the fact that he is still a member of the Dolittle "family" many books later. And unlike the often-misbehaving Matthew Mugg (the Cat's-Meat-Man), Bumpo is always a trustworthy and staunch member of the family. Not that Matthew is bad, of course...he just has difficulty restraining his criminal tendencies (one of my son's favorite Dolittle memories is of the time that the Doctor goes to jail and finds Matthew's initials on his cell wall).
Bumpo does have a tendency to violence towards intruding outsiders, and in previous books there were some humorous references to cannibalism which were doubtless deleted from modern editions. But Bumpo, like Jim from Huckleberry Finn, has been the victim of perhaps well-intentioned but certainly misplaced censorship by over-nervous editors (including, alas, Lofting's son).
Once the Moon story is properly launched the pace of the plot picks up. My son regained his interest at that point. But fair warning: the book ends quite abruptly, and on what can only be called a cliffhanger. The Doctor and his companions are still hanging just above the surface of the Moon!
If you're just starting the Dolittle series, this book is not the place to start. Unless for some reason you want to restrict yourself to the Moon plot only - in which case, you'd probably want to start half-way through. But I wouldn't recommend it. Much better to start with the first book and progress in order throughout the series, even though it does tend to jump back and forth in time between books. That said, despite the slow patch in the first half or so, Doctor Dolittle's Garden is still an exciting, enjoyable book that my son and I both liked very much.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2016
This is a slightly strange Dr. Doolittle book, a bit disjointed and a non-ending, but containing lots of entertainingly told stories within. The book comprises roughly three different themes, although it's allegedly divided into four parts.
The first part of the book tells about a club for crossbred dogs and has several of them telling stories after dinner about their lives. It's quite entertaining.
Then, leaving the dogs behind, Dr. Doolittle becomes obsessed with learning the language of insects, so he contrives an apparatus for doing that, and eventually manages to learn some insect stories, particularly one about a water beetle who was transported in a clod of mud on a duck's foot over to Brazil, and eventually a few years later, back again.
Somewhere in the story telling, Dr. Doolittle hears rumors of giant moths, so quizzes his animal and insect friends for more information about them. Then, quite suddenly, a giant moth shows up in his garden. So they spend the last third of the book (roughly) learning to communicate with the moth, trying to keep the public away, wondering about where to go on a new voyage and whom to take, and so forth.
This story is told through the eyes of Thomas Stubbins who has become Dr. Doolittle's assistant somewhere after Dr. Doolittle's Circus and before the present book (two volumes that I seem to have missed in my current re-reading of the series). I've always thought the primary fun in the Dr. Doolittle books were the little stories that the animals tell each other within the confines of the major plot themes.
The first part of the book tells about a club for crossbred dogs and has several of them telling stories after dinner about their lives. It's quite entertaining.
Then, leaving the dogs behind, Dr. Doolittle becomes obsessed with learning the language of insects, so he contrives an apparatus for doing that, and eventually manages to learn some insect stories, particularly one about a water beetle who was transported in a clod of mud on a duck's foot over to Brazil, and eventually a few years later, back again.
Somewhere in the story telling, Dr. Doolittle hears rumors of giant moths, so quizzes his animal and insect friends for more information about them. Then, quite suddenly, a giant moth shows up in his garden. So they spend the last third of the book (roughly) learning to communicate with the moth, trying to keep the public away, wondering about where to go on a new voyage and whom to take, and so forth.
This story is told through the eyes of Thomas Stubbins who has become Dr. Doolittle's assistant somewhere after Dr. Doolittle's Circus and before the present book (two volumes that I seem to have missed in my current re-reading of the series). I've always thought the primary fun in the Dr. Doolittle books were the little stories that the animals tell each other within the confines of the major plot themes.
June 14, 2017
I love these delightful books! This one leaves you with a bit of a cliffhanger, and I can't wait to get my hands on the next one so I can find out what happens! Dolittle really is an extraordinary character.
April 19, 2018
Delightful! Bought this secondhand and it brought back memories of reading Hugh Lofting’s stories in Puffin in the 60’s . I still have my copies from then but not this one which reading in my 60th year still gave as much pleasure as the others did in my childhood.
July 27, 2018
Longtime favorite
I first read a Doctor Doolittle book when I was in elementary school. I still reread them periodically. Hugh Lofting’s characters are timeless.
I first read a Doctor Doolittle book when I was in elementary school. I still reread them periodically. Hugh Lofting’s characters are timeless.
July 11, 2021
In this book, Hugh Lofting continues his episodic, short-story-like exploration of Doctor Doolittle's adventures, focusing on his garden, which the kind doctor has transformed into a paradise for all types of animals.
But the doctor is also obsessive about studying new animal languages, such as insects. He finally makes a breakthrough, even as he listens to stories from rats and dogs, telling of their adventures.
Then the book makes a sharp turn as an unexpected and huge visitor shows up in his garden.
If you love one of his books, read this one too. They're all good.
But the doctor is also obsessive about studying new animal languages, such as insects. He finally makes a breakthrough, even as he listens to stories from rats and dogs, telling of their adventures.
Then the book makes a sharp turn as an unexpected and huge visitor shows up in his garden.
If you love one of his books, read this one too. They're all good.
January 18, 2020
Doctor Dolittle's Garden continues his studies into animal history and languages, most importantly in insects that helps set up what may be his greatest journey yet! Another excellent addition to his storyline!
April 29, 2015
I've always loved Doctor Dolittle's stories. This book is great but unfortunately it lost me after finishing 2/3 part. The moon journey plot is not very appealing and distracts from the main title.
April 13, 2024
I liked it, I like the endpapers (in the first British edition), it's easily readable. I'm not sure that the Doctor Dolittle books are ones that I would crave to read again though. Likeable, yes, but is the atmosphere and mood of them anything you long to experience again, in comparison, say, to Just William, or The Lord of the Rings, or The Three Musketeers? But maybe. There is something simple and innocent about the stories. The short chapters could make the books very suitable as bedtime reading for children – easy to stop at short notice, easy to read 'just one more'.
December 18, 2024
Fun, interesting, well written children's literature with great pro science and pro animal themes. It also has hints of evolutionary themes, but I only caught them because I am familiar with them, (long ago the moon was part of the earth, and something hit the earth and the moon was thrown up into orbit) etc. but I really enjoyed reading it.
May 14, 2019
The short chapters would help an early reader. Imaginative such that one could believe it's true.
Even with all the interactions with animals, and the argument of their advanced state, I appreciate the lack of the theory of evolution.
Even with all the interactions with animals, and the argument of their advanced state, I appreciate the lack of the theory of evolution.
January 28, 2020
The Hugh Lofting Doctor Dolittle stories are classics that stand the test of time. I really enjoy them and find them clever and enjoyable. I think the writing can be seen as a bit dated but I think it's still extremely readable.
May 9, 2019
it was heading for a 3 rating all his talk to insects and such and then we finally got to the part of how he got to the moon, it was very interesting !
October 23, 2023
So much imagination all the way through has a permanent post on my shelf.
Read
May 9, 2025It’s not that I DNF’d it…it’s that I didn’t feel like I needed to read the last 100 pages to feel whole
March 24, 2023
(pl.- Największa Podróż Doktora Dolittle)
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews