The author of this book is Hugh Lofting. Doctor Dolittle talks to the animals and is also kind of like a veterinarian. He knows most of the animal languages. He really calls himself a naturalist which studies plants and animals. He lives in Puddleby, England. He has an assistant named Stubbins. Doctor Dolittle wants to learn the language of the shellfish because they are one of the oldest animals on earth. He thinks that they can tell him secrets of the past. Doctor Dolittle decided to give up on the shellfish language for a while. Stubbins and the Doctor play a game that you close your eyes and flip the pages of an atlas and put a pencil down on the page. The place that he picked was Spidermonkey Island.
The purple bird of paradise tells him that the greatest naturalist is Long Arrow and that he lives at Spidermonkey Island. Doctor Dolittle goes on a voyage to Spidermonkey Island. The Doctor goes and he saves Long Arrow and 9 other Indians from a cave that a rock had covered the entrance. Doctor Dolittle found a way to dig under the rock and make it fall. Another tribe on the other side of the island wanted to go to war with the peaceful indians. They were going to fight because they were to lazy to do work because the island was floating South and getting cold. The Doctor, Long Arrow, and another man basically won the war for the tribe. They swung clubs and knocked everyone out of the way.
Then Polynesia(a talking parrot) brought millions of black parrots from South America. Most of the other tribe got their ears bit off. Doctor Dolittle was made king of the tribe. They changed his name to Jong Thinkalot because they didnt think Dolittle fit him. Doctor wanted to go but he had to stay and teach the tribe to do things more modern. When he was crowned a rock fell into a dead volcano and it made the island sink. The Doctor decided to leave Spidermonkey Island and go back to Puddleby. They rode back in a giant snail with a glass shell. He taught Doctor Dolittle the shellfish language. This was a good and interesting book. I wish that it never would have ended. I recommend this book to everyone who likes reading about people talking to animals and long books.
