“Martha Speaks: Martha on a Case,” by Jamie White.
Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2010, 108 pages, Grades 2-4.
Susan Meddaugh wrote the incredibly popular books about Martha the talking dog. Recently, Jamie White has adapted the characters from Meddaugh’s books into a delightful series of stories centering on Martha’s humorous antics. This chapter book in the series features Martha solving a criminal case. As usual, the story is very funny as the irrepressible Martha boldly strikes out to solve a problem. White’s adaptation is entitled: “Martha on a Case.”
As a young puppy, Martha is fed alphabet soup. But miraculously, instead of the letters going into her stomach, the alphabet goes directly to her brain. With this Martha quickly learns how words are formed. Before long she is talking in complete sentences and has no trouble expressing herself. But Martha is very expressive and continually wants to talk, much to her family’s sorrow. Martha is Helen’s dog and accompanies the child on many adventures. Most of these adventures are of Martha’s own choosing. One day, Helen is walking Martha and they see a sign saying “No Dogs Allowed.” Martha tells Helen that the sign is simply rude. After all, who would not want a charming, talkative dog such as herself?
As they are standing there, they see two shady looking men scouting out an empty jewelry store. Martha tells Helen that they are would be thieves and they should immediately report the men to the police. Though Martha can speak English, she doesn’t understand the double meanings of words. She overhears the men saying that this job will be as easy as “taking candy from a baby.” Now Martha knows that she must act. A minute earlier, a mother had just walked by with her infant in a stroller. Could it be that these potential thieves were going to rob the child? Martha is perplexed.
She talks Helen into going to the police station and reporting the situation. But before they leave, Helen takes the precaution of filming the erstwhile felons as they prepare to rob the store. They soon discover that two robbers, Kablooie and Gimmie, are on the loose, and looking for a store to rob. With this Helen and Martha go to the police station and show the film to the police chief. Additionally, Martha keeps telling the police chief that the men plan to “steal the candy from the baby” and want them arrested. Unfortunately, Helen has taped the wrong thing and ends up showing the police chief the film of her and Martha singing karaoke. With this the police chief escorts them out of the station house. But Martha still believes a break-in is about to happen. She stealthily tracks the criminals and then lets out a loud howl. What happens?
Is Martha’s warning enough to stop the break-in? Why can’t Martha seem to figure out the double meaning of words? What is Martha’s favorite thing to do? Would you like to have a talking dog? What would it be like to own Martha? To find out the answers to these and other questions, go to the library and check out this fun book, “Martha on a Case” by Jamie White.
This book is very funny. Martha’s capers will keep you laughing throughout the book. A movie series has also been made from this adaptation. Children moving into chapter books will take real delight in this tale or any of the others in the series. I hope you encourage your children to read these books. I enjoyed the story and think you will as well.
