Perfectly Martha

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!

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.

Publishers Weekly

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.

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.