Perfectly Martha (Martha Speaks Series)

by Susan Meddaugh

Overview

When Otis Weaselgraft opens his Perfect Pup Institute, promising to train even the most drooling, barking, scratching, squirrel-chasing dog to be perfectly obedient in three easy steps, Martha smells a rat. There’s something very strange about the Perfect Pup graduates, and Martha is determined to find out what it is!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547137322
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/25/2008
Series:	Martha Speaks Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	7.82(w) x 9.64(h) x 0.11(d)
Lexile:	AD490L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Susan Meddaugh worked at a publishing company for ten years, first as a designer, then art editor, and finally as art director before striking out on her own as a freelance illustrator and creator of children's books. Susan has written and illustrated many popular books for children, including Martha Speaks, which was chosen as a New York Times Best Illustrated Book for 1992. Her Martha Speaks book series was adapted into an award-winning PBS Kids TV show. She lives in Sherborn, Massachusetts.

Editorial Reviews

"In agile ink-and-watercolor illustrations, printed on a white ground like the Curious George books, Meddaugh does for dogs what H.A. Rey does for monkeys." Publishers Weekly, Starred

"This laugh-out-loud escapade will please budding sci-fi fans as well as Martha's many admirers." School Library Journal —

From the Publisher

In Meddaugh's sixth Martha episode, the talking dog turns Nancy Drew to foil a crooked dog trainer and his craven accomplice. Per usual, the story begins with an explanation of Martha's unusual talent (her daily ration of alphabet soup gives her the gift of speech). One day, the canine notices that a Daddy Warbucks lookalike named Otis Weaselgraft has opened a "Perfect Pup Institute" (which gives the book its title and lets Meddaugh squeeze some comic mileage out of the PP acronym). The snake-oil salesman stands on the curb, asking dog owners, " `What do dogs want?'/ Before Martha could answer, the man continued./ `They want to scatter trash on pickup day, sleep on the furniture, and drink from the toilet.... Your dog... could be better.' " Martha, who grumbles to her (nonverbal) sidekick Skits that "dogs are already perfect," investigates, and learns that Weaselgraft controls pets by implanting a "Robo Rover Brain Blocker" in their collars. Meddaugh's story amounts to a mad scientist yarn, but her discerning cartoons carry the day. In agile ink-and-watercolor illustrations, printed on a white ground like the Curious George books, Meddaugh does for dogs what H.A. Rey does for monkeys. Her happy dogs wiggle and scratch, while Weaselgraft's zombie-like trainees exhibit a bizarre tolerance of squirrels. Whistleblower Martha remains the series star, with balance provided by the goofy Skits and Weaselgraft's pug, Burt, who stays on after the PP Institute skips town. Ages 4-8. (Feb.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 3-In her newest adventure, the quick-thinking, loquacious dog finds herself matching wits with a technological shyster. When the Perfect Pup Institute opens up in her town, Martha is immediately suspicious about how quickly the canines enrolled give up all of their normal doggy behaviors from drooling to squirrel chasing. As she investigates, she discovers that Otis Weaselgraft is installing a robo-rover brain-blocker microchip inside each pooch's collar. Otis's assistant, Dr. Pablum, hears Martha speak and realizes that she is an amazing find, but, of course, Martha outsmarts him and exposes the dog-training hoax, and the pets' owners realize that they actually prefer their tail-wagging, slobbery-kissing companions. The illustrations are clever and colorful, perfectly capturing the zany tale and the personalities of Martha and her cohorts, including one picture showing a squirrel sitting merrily on the head of a clearly robotic dog. This laugh-out-loud escapade will please budding sci-fi fans as well as Martha's many admirers.-Carol Schene, Taunton Public Schools, MA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Martha, the dog who took alphabet soup to new heights, smells a rat when the dogs in her neighborhood start behaving too obediently after a course with Otis Weaselgraft's Perfect Pup Institute. They sit, they roll over, they lie down on command, which runs counter to Martha's understanding of the dog brain: big sleep, eat, and play lobes, with a minor lobe, about the size of a dust mote, tuned to obedience (nicely illustrated by Meddaugh's declarative art). Martha learns the trick to the professor's system, a brain-blocking microchip inserted into the dog's collar: "Lasts about a month," admits Weaselgraft when Martha turns the tables on him, "just long enough to take your money and move to the next state." Martha is the perfect mutt to raise the slogan "Question Authority" to an art form: really, if you're not drinking from the toilet or scattering trash, are you being true to your inner dog? (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews