Martha on the Case

July 1, 2010
Gr 1–3—-hese two stories are based on characters from Meddaugh's "Martha" picture books (Houghton) and on the PBS series "Martha Speaks." An introduction explains that the pup is able to speak when she eats alphabet soup. In the first story, she is accused of eating part of a birthday cake before it is served. Guests at the party hold a hearing and provide imaginative scenarios for the crime, but when Nelson the cat spits up a bit of candle, the truth is revealed. In the second case, Martha hears two men plotting and is determined to stop them from committing a crime. She and her owner, Helen, learn that the men are actually undercover officers working to thwart a jewelry-store robbery. The thieves come while the police are gone, so Martha summons neighborhood dogs to help. Each page has ample white space and features an expressive, brightly colored cartoon. A few full-spread illustrations add information and drama. Word-search and -scramble puzzles follow the story. This engaging, contemporary tale will be welcomed by those making the leap from Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Mitchell Sharmat's "Nate the Great on the Owl Express"(Delacorte, 2003) and Cynthia Rylant's "The Case of the Desperate Duck"(HarperCollins, 2005) to more advanced mysteries.—"Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI"

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