Customer Reviews

Martha Calling

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love all Martha books, as does my 3 yr old niece and her parents. This particular Martha book contains Martha's brilliant and moving speech about spending time with pets. Yay Martha!

I love this book. Anyone who has a dog will love this book. Actually, anyone will love this book. A funny, touching,
story that is wonderfully illustrated. I know it's a children's book and they will love the story but it's also a great book for adults.

Martha is wonderful- she is a dog's dream. She can use the phone to order pizza and meat, she can talk to her dog friends and be their translator to the their humans- and then she learns to win radio contests to go places! She is even smart enough to put on a disguise to get in where she isn't allowed, but slips up because she can't resist a flying frisbee. Everything she ends up telling the other hotel guests after her exiled doggieness is discovered is very true- we say we love our dogs yet so many people disallow them basic "dog rights". When given a chance, most dogs can behave appropriately in public, and as Martha says, they need to be given that in exchange for what they've done for us. Keep our parks and hotels dog friendly!

But Martha says it so much better than I. :-)

When I heard that "Martha Calling" had made the New York Public Library's "100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know", I immediately decided to read it. By mistake, I accidentally picked up the first Martha book, "Martha Speaks", in which a clever canine who can speak (due to a healthy diet of alphabet soup) foils a burglar's plot. The book was fine. Not particularly different from any other, except perhaps that it used cartoonish bubbles to convey speech (not too common in picture books as of now). So I returned it and located "Martha Calling" next. To my chagrin, the book is not quite as good as its predecessor. Yes, we still have that lovable puppy dog yabbering away and causing all sorts of kooky adventures, but the emotional impact found in the first book is lacking here.

Martha's just as talky as ever, but her new favorite toy is undoubtedly the phone. One day Martha's non-stop mouth helps her to win a radio contest. The prize is a free weekend for four at the cozy Come-On-Inn. Unfortunately, no dogs are allowed at the inn in question. Disguising the dog as Grandma Martha, the week-end goes kablooey when a well-meaning housekeeper falls under the impression that Martha the dog has eaten Martha the Grandma. After some explanations on our protagonist's part, all ends up well and the inn remodels itself as a dog-friendly establishment.

Where in "Martha Speaks" we felt Martha's pain at being chastised for talking too much (a thing many children have to deal with once they themselves learn to talk), here the book is dealing with discrimination. Somehow, the more serious subject matter is less effective in the long run. There is plenty to be amused at in this book, no question. But it's just fluff in the end. Which is fine if all you're looking for is a bit of entertainment to read to the kiddies at night. Martha is a fine pooch to watch and there are plenty of little tiny tidbits to catch the eye. I was particularly taken with the final picture in the book of the many dogs and their owners dining at the now renamed Sit-n-Stay Hotel. To one side a cat crouches, eyeing the other animals while its owner cries, "Leave those dogs alone Liebchen!". I've suddenly been inspired to name my own cat Liebchen someday. By the way, make sure you understand who the SPCA is before reading this book with the kiddies. Martha mentions it more than once in her "No Dogs Allowed" anger. Otherwise, this is a perfectly nice of not overwhelmingly wonderful picture book.

I love reading this book to my kids age 3 and 6. It makes me laugh as well as them! I have given it as gifts several times. I especially enjoyed giving this to a vet. friend's son! The other Martha books are good too, but if you can only have one, I think this one is the best.

This is a book about a spectactular dog named Martha that always eats alphabet soup. One day the letters from the soup go to his brain instead of his stomache and he now has the the ability to talk. He would talk on and on about almost anything, and he loved to talk on the phone. However three words he hated to read and speak about were no dogs allowed. He didnt understand why he couldn't be with his family in restaurants and other facilities people use. One day he entered a radio contest over the phone and won. He won a family trip to a hotel that happened to be a "no dogs allowed" hotel. The dog dressed up as the families grandma and couldnt participate in alot of the activities the rest of his family did there. At the hotel one misunderstanding led to him speaking his mind to the people of the hotel about his feelings of not allowing dogs in public places. The hotel owners were moved enough to make it a pet and person hotel that pet owners and their beloved pets could go to take a vacation.
Martha takes a summer job at the hotel to help supervise activities. This is a creative, animated book, that many youths should be able to enjoy.
-Derek Kelly
Mrs. Nelsen
English 9A

Great short story before bed, the book's pictures are bright and the type is easy to read. My nephew will enjoy these Martha books for years, just as my son has for the 6 yrs we had his.