Doctor Dolittle

"I didn’t know children were expected to have literary heroes, but I certainly had one, and I even identified with him at one time: Doctor Dolittle, whom I now half identify with the Charles Darwin of Beagle days. This gentle, kindly naturalist, who could talk to nonhuman animals…"

"Dr. Dolittle, in the Hugh Lofting series, was my favorite character. He had a face like a currant bun but could speak animal languages and was a naturalist who went on stirring adventures to the South Seas."