The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
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| Author | Hugh Lofting |
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| Country | United States of America |
| Language | English |
| Series | Doctor Dolittle |
| Genre | Children's novel, animals |
| Publisher | J. B. Lippincott & Co. |
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Publication date
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1922 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback and Paperback) |
| Preceded by | The Story of Doctor Dolittle |
| Followed by | Doctor Dolittle's Post Office |
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle was the second of Hugh Lofting's Doctor Dolittle books to be published, coming out in 1922. It is nearly five times as long as its predecessor and the writing style is pitched at a more mature audience. The scope of the novel is vast; it is divided into six parts and the illustrations are also more sophisticated. It won the Newbery Medal for 1923.
It was one of the novels in the series which was adapted into the film Doctor Dolittle.
Tommy Stubbins, the narrator of the story, finds an squirrel injured by a hawk so the mussel man informs him to get help from Doctor Dolittle. Tommy goes to Mathew Mugg to find out where the doctor lives who tells him that the Doctor can speak the language of animals so they go to his house but find out he's gone away on a voyage and is guarded by the his dog Jip. Later the Doctor comes home to meet Tommy and takes care of his squirrel then explains when Tommy see's a strange fish creature in his house that it's a Wiff-Waff and is trying to learn shellfish language but eventually he quits it as it is too hard to study. Unexpectedly Polynesia turns up in Puddleby from Africa who informs the Doctor that Bumpo is studying in Bullford then Tommy gets the Doctor, with the help of Poynesia, to teach him the animal languages. After Polynesia teaches Tommy the language of animals, so he can understand Jip and Dub-Dub, Chee-Chee comes from Africa disguised as a lady and tells about his voyage to Puddleby. The Doctor then gets a vessel called The Curlew and is thinking of taking Tommy, Polynesia, and Luke the Hermit. They find out from the hermit's dog, Bob, that he was sent to prison for murder but Bob is a witness so when the court is in process the Doctor proves to the judge that he can talk to animals, when this is settled he translates Bob's story to English. When the story is finished the judges conclude that the hermit is innocent.
Later the Purple Bird of Paradise informs the Doctor that Long Arrow, son of Golden Arrow, who is a friend of the Doctor, is missing so after they play the game Blind Travel, which would determine where in the world they would voyage, they decide to take a trip to Spider Monkey Island to find Long Arrow. The Doctor, Tommy, Bumpo, Polynesia and Mathew start the voyage across the sea but on the way they discover some stowaways and drop them off at the coast off Puddleby. Their first stop is Spain where a bullfight is in process so the Doctor makes a deal with the bullfighters that if he can beat them in a fight they would agree to stop bullfighting ever again. The Doctor talks to the bulls and they agreed to stick to the plan to make everyone think that he outwitted them. When the fight is over and the doctor wins against the other bullfighters the people protest because of bullfighting being banned. When the doctor and his crew set off again the Doctor shows Tommy he has caught a fidgit that talks English so he consults it and finds out that to go underwater deeper to observe the ocean is to find the Glass Sea Snail.
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