The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle was published by Frederick A. Stokes in 1922 and won the second Newbery Medal (awarded in 1923), establishing the series as the gold standard of children’s adventure fiction. The book is longer and more ambitious than its predecessor, told in the first person by Tommy Stubbins, a young cobbler’s son who becomes the Doctor’s assistant and traveling companion.
The voyage itself — to the floating Spider Monkey Island in the Pacific — is the most sustained adventure in the series. The Doctor becomes king of the island (reluctantly, as always — he would rather study the local wildlife), discovers a prehistoric creature preserved under the island’s volcanic shell, and must rescue the island when it is trapped in a current. Along the way, Lofting introduces several of his most memorable animal characters, including the Great Glass Sea Snail and the pushmi-pullyu.
The shift to first-person narration gives the book a warmth and immediacy that the first volume lacked. Tommy is a child reader’s natural surrogate — curious, loyal, and awed by the Doctor’s abilities — and his narration grounds the fantasy in the specific, sensory details that make fiction convincing to young readers.
Collecting The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
First edition (Frederick A. Stokes, New York, 1922): Cloth binding with Lofting’s illustrations. Newbery Medal winner.
Market values:
- First edition in dust jacket: $800–$3,000
- Without jacket: $80–$300
- Newbery Medal editions: premium
- Early reprints: $25–$60