Young viewers will learn what happens when a dog suddenly acquires the extraordinary ability to talk as the new animated series Martha Speaks debuts on PBS KIDS this fall. Slated to premiere on Monday, Sept. 1 at 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., the show from WGBH Boston and Vancouver’s Studio B Prods. is based on a series of books written and illustrated by Susan Meddaugh, and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Meddaugh serves as a creative producer on the toon series aimed at kids 4-7.
Martha is a beloved family dog who is accidentally fed alphabet soup that gives her the power of human speech and the chance to speak her mind to anyone who will listen. Each episode features two 11-minute stories (including six adapted from the books) that showcase Martha’s linguistic abilities and the humorous consequences they provoke, while encouraging kids to expand their vocabulary. Over the course of 40 animated installments, kids will get to know Martha as an outspoken, honest, smart, confident shelter dog who loves to eat. Viewers will also meet 10-year-old Helen and the rest of Martha’s human and canine family and friends.
The Martha Speaks series of books have sold nearly one million copies in the U.S., and have been widely translated throughout the world. Martha’s adventures also carry over to pbskids.org/martha, a web destination that will reinforce vocabulary lessons from the series with games, videos and printable offline activities. The site will also offer resources to help parents and teachers support vocabulary development. PBS Parents (pbsparents.org) will provide series information and educational goals for parents and caregivers, while PBS Teachers (pbsteachers.org) offers educational content.
Senior exec producer of Martha Speaks is Carol Greenwald, who originated the WGBH-produced Arthur series for public television and is also senior exec producer of Curious George. Content director is Dr. Rebecca Silverman of the University of Maryland. Martha Speaks is part of PBS KIDS Raising Readers initiative, and is funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Education’s Ready To Learn grant. Additional funding is provided by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and by public television viewers.
