author
Hugh Lofting
1886–1947
Best known for creating Doctor Dolittle, this English-born writer turned gentle humor, imagination, and a love of animals into one of children's literature's most enduring series. His stories began in a very personal way: as illustrated letters sent home during World War I.
6 Audiobooks
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
by Hugh Lofting
The Story of Doctor Dolittle
by Hugh Lofting
Doctor Dolittle's Post Office
by Hugh Lofting
The Story of Mrs. Tubbs
by Hugh Lofting
Doctor Dolittle in the Moon
by Hugh Lofting
About the author
Born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, on January 14, 1886, Hugh Lofting trained as a civil engineer before becoming a writer. He lived and worked in places including Africa and Canada, later served in the British Army during World War I, and was seriously wounded.
While in the trenches, he began sending illustrated letters to his children instead of describing the war. Those letters introduced the animal-loving doctor who could talk with creatures, and they grew into The Story of Doctor Dolittle in 1920. Lofting went on to write a celebrated series of Doctor Dolittle books, including The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, which won the 1923 Newbery Medal.
Lofting later settled in the United States and became an English-American author whose work stayed closely tied to kindness, curiosity, and the idea that animals have rich inner lives of their own. He died in 1947, but Doctor Dolittle remained his lasting gift to generations of young readers.