Talking animals have long been a hit with children and that trend continues with this story of a well-meaning dog whose newfound ability to speak gets her into trouble. Kids will find the brown mutt to be adorable and will giggle at her incessant ramblings about many things that people would expect a dog to talk about, ranging from complaining about commands to telling about a dream involving "chasing a giant meatloaf." The dog speech is shown in a thought bubble and is as spastic and convoluted as you would imagine a hyper canine to be, which only adds to the hilarity of the situation.
This story provides the good-to-know lesson of thinking before you speak so you don't offend or upset someone. Martha learns the lesson the hard way when she tells a visitor, "Mom said that fruitcake you sent wasn't fit for a dog. But I thought it was delicious." Martha's second speaking fault is her tendency to talk non-stop, which begins to grate on her families' nerves until they finally tell her to just be quiet. Although it may be a little harsh, it gets the point across that sometimes silence is a good thing.
When I read this story to Paige and Marcus, kids I used to babysit, they both enjoyed the silliness of the book. Since they had two dogs, we discussed what they thought their dogs would say if they could speak. Paige, who was the youngest loved the book for the lovable dog while Marcus enjoyed more the intricacies of the book, like the inner workings of a dog's mind.
--Abby