Jungle Doctor Pulls a Leg

The Jungle Doctor #15

by Paul White

Jungle Doctor Pulls A Leg (The Jungle Doctor Series No. 18)

Genres: Childrens

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Paul White was an Australian missionary doctor in Africa who learned to clothe his Bible teaching in fables, creating stories with a timeless quality. When he returned home to Australia his stories were discovered and published to world-wide acclaim.

Reviews

[Melissa]

Each night we read and chapter, and the suspense of medical problems in the Africa jungle kept my 5 and 8 year old excited. They never wanted me to stop. The doctor is a fabulous role model for young boys.

[Kay]

Disappointed that it wasn’t really what was promised. Its a christian themed book, written by an evangelist, owned by a Christian company, and read and distributed by a Christian company.

This becomes immediately apparent within the first chapter. I judged the book by its cover and thought it was going to be an exciting tale about exploring African jungles, but alas it was about missionaries, the bible, and proselytizing.

[Karina (Karina's Christian Reads)]

Number of pages: 149

Genre: Children’s fiction Missionary (based on a real missionary’s experiences)

Series: Jungle Doctor #2

Age recommendation: 10-14

Summary: The witch doctor has been using his magic, and it appears to be working as many people are dying from a mysterious disease. It’s up to the Bwana to figure out what this disease is, and help the people before every last one succumbs.

My thoughts: The Jungle Doctor series is so good! This book focuses on the Black Plague outbreak and how the Bwana and his helpers deal with it. I found myself rooting for him and Mboga to make it through.
Many times, the gospel is explained… but it doesn’t feel forced or shoved in your face. I really liked the analogies/explanations that are used because I find them very simple and clear so anyone can understand.
I think there were some really good lessons on love and forgiveness as well. When the witch doctor got sick, the Bwana gave him their very best medicine in the hopes of saving him, despite him having worked against them. Even when the witch doctor recovered and began to criticize their actions none of the hospital staff got angry or was rude to him. They continued to treat him with love and respect.
It is a super interesting story and I would recommend it to everyone – however, some younger readers/listeners might find the Swahili and Chigogo interjections a little hard to follow.

My personal rating: 5/5 stars.

Link to blog: https://karinaschristianreads.wordpre...

[Sean Harding]

It is quite strange that the book I read said it was number #2 in the series when it says her it is #15 - have they been renumbered at some point?
Anyway this was an entertaining and challenging book about missionary doctors in the jungle and it is told decently of pretty straight forward and it does tend to feel a little dates as well.

[Phil Whittall]

A good story about a missionary doctor and his team of African helpers tackling an outbreak of the plague in a rural village.