Doctor Dolittle’s Garden was published by Frederick A. Stokes in 1927, continuing the quieter, more reflective mode that the series had adopted since Doctor Dolittle’s Zoo. The Doctor remains in Puddleby, devoting himself to scientific research — specifically, to the languages of insects, which prove to be the most difficult and most rewarding of all his linguistic challenges.
The book’s most significant plot development is the Doctor’s discovery that he can communicate with the Moon — or rather, with a being on the Moon who has been trying to reach Earth for centuries. This discovery, which comes through the insect studies (certain moths, the Doctor learns, navigate by moonlight and carry fragmentary messages), sets up the extraordinary voyage that will form the next book.
Lofting uses the garden setting to explore the micro-world — the lives of ants, beetles, moths, and spiders — with the same respectful curiosity that the earlier books brought to larger animals. The Doctor’s willingness to take even the smallest creatures seriously, to believe that their experiences matter and their communications deserve to be understood, is the series’ deepest moral commitment.
Collecting Doctor Dolittle’s Garden
First edition (Frederick A. Stokes, New York, 1927): Cloth binding with Lofting’s illustrations.
Market values:
- First edition in dust jacket: $100–$400
- Without jacket: $20–$60
- Later editions: $8–$15