Synopses & Reviews
When Carolina starts Carolina's Town Crier, a newspaper with a kids' (and dogs')-eye view of the goings-on in Wagstaff City, the whole gang wants to be reporters! Read two stories about the ins and outs of news reporting in this book: First, Martha and Skits dig up a BIG scoop, but nobody believes them! Next, Martha learns the difference between gossip and news as she hones her reporting skills. Based on the popular PBS show Martha Speaks, this chapter book features a glossary of new words andand#160;activities to help rookie reports start their own newspaper. Visit www.pbskids.org/marthaspeaks to play the "Town Crier" game and print your own newspaper!
Review
"Because of the bold, colorful illustrations, familiarity of the characters, and readability of the texts, these titles should prove to be a big hit with the beginning-reader crowd."
--School Library Journal
Review
** "Kids will quickly fall in love with the charming yellow canine at the heart of this series because she's fun-loving and excited to learn new things. . . . Martha Speaks does a good job of exposing kids to new vocabulary. . . . The show also makes an effort to weave in positive messages about qualities like self-confidence, friendship, and civic responsibility - all great lessons for young kids." --
Common Sense Media and#160; ** "The great thing about the show . . . is how seamlessly it weaves word usage into the story lines of each episode. . .and#160;. The words are defined, used in sentences and repeated, yet at no time does any of this feel like - ugh! - school." --
San Francisco Chronicle and#160; ** "The showand#160;. . . incorporates vocabulary lessons into the antics of Martha and her two-legged pals." --
The Washington Post and#160; ** "Martha's animation is colorful and perky, just like Martha and the family home she inhabits." --
The Hollywood Reporter and#160; ** "Martha's a pretty savvy girl with some pretty good lessons. . . . [she] is a smart, confident, happy dog whose home life illustrates how people should care for animals - another plus for the series." --
The Orange County Register and#160; ** "[T]he real draw is how the series boosts vocabularies, exploring words that require more than a pictogram to explain." --
Time Out Kids and#160; ** "There's plenty of good humor from the newly loquacious pooch . . . but the program is, at heart, a stealth vocabulary lesson." --Cookiemag.com and#160; ** Plenty of parenting blog coverage: - "It is a cartoon about a dog that ate some alphabet soup and it went to her brain instead of her stomach and now she can talk. We even made a trip to the library last week and checked out Martha Speaks books. She will not be happy when I have to return those books.and#160;We have to read them to her about four times a day!" - "It is a new, sweet animated series on PBS . . . My little girls love it - and they can be a tough crowd to impress." - "[D]efinitely keeping this cool dog on our watch list." and#8212;mommafindings.com - "I love this show." and#8212;lovethydog.com
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Synopsis
When Carolina starts Carolina's Town Crier, a newspaper with a kids' (and dogs')-eye-view of the goings on in Wagstaff city, the whole gang wants to come on board as reporters! Based on the PBS popular TV show Martha Speaks, this chapter book about Martha the talking dog and her friends features a glossary of new words, fun activities, ideas for starting your own newspaper, and two stories aboutand#160;the ins and outs of news reporting.
Synopsis
Who doesn't love a dog? In this hilarious chapter book based on the PBS television show Martha Speaks, T.D. volunteers to live as a dog for a day, and Carolina is shocked when she wakes up to find herself changed into a dog! A funny friendship story about switching places and learning empathy. and#160;
Synopsis
Hypothesis: "Itand#8217;s easier being a dog than being a human." This seems pretty safe to say, but the notion is put to the test in this funny, action-packed, full-color chapter book based on the PBS show Martha Speaks. When Carolina is turned into a dog, she finds out how irresistible mud, meat, and squirrels can beand#8230;and ends up at theand#12288;shelter! Then T.D. volunteers to live as a dog for a day. Is it as easy at it looks? By the end, readers will not only have had a good laugh, theyand#8217;ll know the difference between empathy and sympathy, manners and mannerisms, and more. A glossary and some fun activities round out this perspective-tweaking chapter book.
Synopsis
Martha the talking dog tells her friends four fur-raising scary stories in this summer camp-out chapter book. Based onand#160;the popularand#160;TVand#160;showand#160;Martha Speaksand#160;airing on PBS.
Synopsis
Nothing turns a backyard camp-out from yawn to "Yowza!" like a few scary stories. When their repertoire of shadow puppets is exhausted, Martha (the talking dog from PBSand#8217;s hit TV show Martha Speaks)and her friends decide to share some science-fiction storiesand#8212;the creepier the better! Martha tells one about aliens from Venus who eat frozen yogurt with their ears, T.D. scares everyone with malevolent alien cat people, Helen tells "The Telltale Artichoke Heart" about a disturbing tin can ("THUMP. THUMP. THUMP"), and Alice tells "Night of the Phantom Scarecrow." A few Campfire Story Starters will have aspiring storytellers off and running!
Synopsis
Marthaand#8217;s family and Skits are going out west on vacation, and Martha doesnand#8217;t want to be left behind. But that cargo hold where dogs have to travel sounds scary. Martha has to prove that sheand#8217;s no scaredydog if she wants to go on the trip. After they arrive, Martha is so excited to go on a cattle drive through Montana. But Cookie the cowhand isnand#8217;t so sure that Martha is fit for the trip after she causes a stampede. Can Martha show Cookie that she has what it takes to be at home on the range?
Includes a glossary, instructions on creating your own travel journal, and a fun western word activity.
Synopsis
The president and his family are looking for a dog to live in the White House. Martha knows the perfect dog for the job, and makes an informative call to the White House. But when the president finds out about Marthaand#8217;s speaking ability he wants her toand#160;come to the White House right away! Martha feels itand#8217;s her duty to report, but she already has a family. Whatever could the President wantand#160;with her?
Includes a glossary of democratic vocabulary such as nominate and country and fun word activities.
About the Author
Susan Meddaugh was born and raised in Montclair, New Jersey. She graduated from Wheaton College, where she studied French literature and fine arts. After working briefly with an advertising agency in New York, she moved to Boston and worked at a publishing company for ten years, first as a designer, then art editor, and finally as art director. While there, she did the illustrations for Good Stones (Houghton Mifflin) by Anne Epstein, and then decided to strike out on her own as a freelance illustrator and creator of children's books. Since that time, 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. In 1998 she was awarded the New England Book Award, given by the New England Booksellers Association to recognize a body of work. Her work also was acknowledged with a New York Times Best Illustrated Award. She lives in Sherborn, Massachusetts.