Now this business of giving life to animals, making them talk and behave like human beings, is an extremely difficult one. Lewis Carroll absolutely conquered the difficulties, but I am not sure that anyone after him until Hugh Lofting has really managed the trick; even in such a masterpiece as “The Wind in the Willows” we are not quite convinced. John Dolittle’s friends are convincing because their creator never forces them to desert their own characteristics. Polynesia, for instance, is natural from first to last. She really does care about the Doctor but she cares as a bird would care, having always some place to which she is going when her business with her friends is over. And when Mr. Lofting invents fantastic animals he gives them a kind of credible possibility which is extraordinarily convincing. It will be impossible for anyone who has read this book not to believe in the existence of the pushmi-pullyu, who would be credible enough even were there no drawing of it, but the picture on page 153 settles the matter of his truth once and for all. In fact this book is a work of genius and, as always with works of genius, it is difficult to analyze the elements that have gone to make it. There is poetry here and fantasy and humor, a little pathos but, above all, a number of creations in whose existence everybody must believe whether they be children of four or old men of ninety or prosperous bankers of forty-five. I don’t know how Mr. Lofting has done it; I don’t suppose that he knows himself. There it is—the first real children’s classic since “Alice.” HUGH WALPOLE. _CONTENTS_ INTRODUCTION vii CHAPTER PAGE I PUDDLEBY 1 II ANIMAL LANGUAGE 7 III MORE MONEY TROUBLES 19 IV A MESSAGE FROM AFRICA 29 V THE GREAT JOURNEY 37 VI POLYNESIA AND THE KING 47 VII THE BRIDGE OF APES 55 VIII THE LEADER OF THE LIONS 67 IX THE MONKEYS’ COUNCIL 75 X THE RAREST ANIMAL OF ALL 81 XI THE BLACK PRINCE 91 XII MEDICINE AND MAGIC 99 XIII RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS 111 XIV THE RATS’ WARNING 117 XV THE BARBARY DRAGON 125 XVI TOO-TOO, THE LISTENER 133 XVII THE OCEAN GOSSIPS 141 XVIII SMELLS 149 XIX THE ROCK 159 XX THE FISHERMAN’S TOWN 167 XXI HOME AGAIN 174 _ILLUSTRATIONS_