I picked this book up on audio for us to listen to as we drove about visiting people during the holidays. I have a vague memory of enjoying the 1967 film adapation staring Rex Harrison as Dr. Dolittle.

My initial impulse was to give the book one star. Unlike some other editions, this one was NOT altered from the original. The book definitely conveyed some attitudes about skin color that I would have not have knowingly chosen for my son to hear. And while it didn't use the "N word" it did use terms like "darky", "blacky" and "coon". After the book was over we talked about the problems with the racial attitudes but fortunately my son seems to have been so taken with the rest of the story that he didn't take note of those parts... even as my husband and I were looking at each other in horror trying to decide if we should turn off the audio book. If we read any more books in this series, i'll be looking for redacted versions.

My son quite liked the book and would like to listen to it again. His laughter and delight earned the book an extra star.