Leader of the Pack - Brossura

** "The great thing about the show . . . is how seamlessly it weaves word usage into the story lines of each episode. . . . The words are defined, used in sentences and repeated, yet at no time does any of this feel like - ugh! - school." --San Francisco Chronicle** "The show . . . incorporates vocabulary lessons into the antics of Martha and her two-legged pals." --The Washington Post** "Martha's animation is colorful and perky, just like Martha and the family home she inhabits." --The Hollywood Reporter** "Martha's a pretty savvy girl with some pretty good lessons. . . . [she] is a smart, confident, happy dog whose home life illustrates how people should care for animals - another plus for the series." --The Orange County Register** "[T]he real draw is how the series boosts vocabularies, exploring words that require more than a pictogram to explain." --Time Out Kids** "Kids will quickly fall in love with the charming yellow canine at the heart of this series because she's fun-loving and excited to learn new things. . . . Martha Speaks does a good job of exposing kids to new vocabulary. . . . The show also makes an effort to weave in positive messages about qualities like self-confidence, friendship, and civic responsibility - all great lessons for young kids." --Common Sense Media** "There's plenty of good humor from the newly loquacious pooch . . . but the program is, at heart, a stealth vocabulary lesson." --Cookiemag.com** Plenty of parenting blog coverage: - "It is a cartoon about a dog that ate some alphabet soup and it went to her brain instead of her stomach and now she can talk. We even made a trip to the library last week and checked out Martha Speaks books. She will not be happy when I have to return those books. We have to read them to her about four times a day!"- "It is a new, sweet animated series on PBS . . . My little girls love it - and they can be a tough crowd to impress."

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.