Doctor Dolittle's Post Office

By Hugh Lofting

Book Overview

Doctor Dolittle's Post Office (1920) is a children's fantasy novel by Hugh Lofting. The novel is the third in a series of fifteen books featuring Doctor Dolittle, a character created by Lofting in letters written to his wife and children at home while he served in the Great War. Beloved by generations of adults and children for their imaginative nature and moral worldview, Lofting's books have inspired numerous adaptations for theater, film, and television.

Doctor John Dolittle is an ordinary physician with an extraordinary gift. Renowned for his ability to communicate with animals, Dolittle has made a name for himself as a traveling veterinarian with a generous heart and a courageous spirit. On the West Coast of Africa, he finds himself enlisted to help rescue the captives on an illegal slave ship, earning him the respect of the people of Fantippo. There, he befriends King Koko, who encourages him to open the small kingdom's first postal service, allowing them to communicate with distant continents using thousands of migratory birds. Told in episodic fashion, and with each episode containing wilder and more wonderful adventures than the next, Lofting's novel features a lost island filled with prehistoric beasts, the invention of an alphabet for animals, and a tortoise who has been alive since before the Great Flood. Doctor Dolittle's Post Office is a delightful work of fantasy for children and adults alike.

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1513269593
• ISBN13: 9781513269597
• Release Date: March 2021
• Publisher: Mint Editions
• Length: 182 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.0" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 8 to 13 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 8

Customer Reviews

Faster than Anything

Well, of course, today we live in a world of e-mail, instant text messages, and faxes. But once upon a time, in Hugh Lofting's _Doctor Dolittle's Post Office_ (1923), the good Doctor had a plan to make the mail speedier and more efficient. It was to be the swiftest mail in the world, and it involved (among other things) a flock of gulls, a houseboat, tea parties, licorice flavored stamps, a pifflosaurus, Cheapside the London sparrow, a white peacock, scribbling classes, and the Cape Stephen Lighthouse. There were no computers, cell phones, or fax machines. But I'll bet that you will find that the Doctor's P.O. is a damned sight more fun. There are a number of antagonists in this book: a ship of slavers, a hot-tempered navy captain, a spy from the Royal Meteorological Bureau, a pistol-packing pearl thief, and a dictatorial Emir. All are human. The animals might be foolish (like Gub-Gub) or cheeky (like Cheapside), or tempermental and vain. But they are rarely villainous. We know the same secret that Doctor Dolittle knows-- that if the world were run by the animals, it would be a better place. There may be a time when fathers will say, "When _I_ was a boy, _I_ didn't get to teleport to school. _I_ had to ride in a rickety old bus!" Let's hope that even in those speedy times this account of the Doctor's Post Office will still be read and enjoyed.

good, although kind of a potpourri

this isn't the best doctor dolittle book, but it's a fun read. the book takes place in africa and concentrates on birds. there are several new characters including speedy the swallow and quip, and dab-dab has a slightly bigger role than usual (and cheapside also to some extent). this book features the first appearance of mud-face the turtle and the secret lake, and there's a nice section where each of the main characters tells a story. the beginning is a little slow and some of the scenes seem a bit familiar, but in general it's good fun.

Doctor Dolittle's Post Office

In this famous story, the great Vet/Naturalist is at it again,this time starting a Post Office/Weather bureau for the animals with birds for postmen!I reccomend collectors read this one before packaging it. Fine story,but be aware of certain minor ethnic references.