The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle

I enjoyed this quite a bit, more than I was expecting. However, I liked the first half of the book much more than the second. While I was reading the first half, I thought this might be in the running for favorite books I read in 2019. The second half was not as good, in my opinion. But it was still a very fun tale!

It follows Tommy, a boy living in England who loves animals. He rescues an injured squirrel, which leads him to find the famous Doctor Dolittle, the naturalist and animal doctor, whose secret to his success is his ability to learn animal languages and speak with them! Tommy becomes his assistant, and they set out on a voyage to Spidermonkey Island, looking for another naturalist who has gone missing.

This was just such an entertaining adventure story! Obviously, there are some fantastical elements, and that was a very interesting aspect of this book. I loved the journey to the island, but when they arrived, the story took a turn I wasn't expecting, which wasn't as interesting to me. But I thought the ending was great, and overall it was a fantastic time! This is one of my favorite children's classics so far!

Content note: there is an assumption of evolution, so be aware of that if that sort of thing bothers you. And also, there is a bit of ethnic “superiority” (aka racism), talking down to native peoples and such. I realize that this was not uncommon for the time it was written, but it still rubs me the wrong way. If you're able to overlook these issues, however, I think this book is worth your time.