Doctor Dolittle's Post Office Author:Hugh Lofting Well, of course, today we live in a world of e-mail, instant text messages, and faxes. But once upon a time, in Hugh Lofting's _Doctor Dolittle's Post Office_ (1923), the good Doctor had a plan to make the mail speedier and more efficient. It was to be the swiftest mail in the world, and it involved (among other things) a flock of gulls,... more » a houseboat, tea parties, licorice flavored stamps, a pifflosaurus, Cheapside the London sparrow, a white peacock, scribbling classes, and the Cape Stephen Lighthouse. There were no computers, cell phones, or fax machines. But I'll bet that you will find that the Doctor's P.O. is more fun.
There are a number of antagonists in this book: a ship of slavers, a hot-tempered navy captain, a spy from the Royal Meteorological Bureau, a pistol-packing pearl thief, and a dictatorial Emir. All are human. The animals might be foolish (like Gub-Gub) or cheeky (like Cheapside), or temperamental and vain. But they are rarely villainous. We know the same secret that Doctor Dolittle knows-- that if the world were run by the animals, it would be a better place.« less