Martha Blah Blah

Susan Meddaugh, the author of Martha Blah Blah, either on purpose or inadvertently satired the state of the United States economy. her story of a dog who eats Alphabet Soup, but instead of the letters going to his stomach they are redirected to his head, thus giving Martha the ability to speak actual words. As Martha creates buzz around her hometown by speaking and interacting with other animals she begins to generate love for other animals. As all this is going on Granny Flo, the CEO of the Alphabet soup company comes to the conclusion that less letters equals less expenses and more revenue. The irony of a little old grandma concerned with profit margin and a dog speaking with half letters mimics the economy of today. By crippling necessary letters (raising taxes, slashing health care and benefits) the dog (society and average Joe) are unable to stay in communication (competition) with the humans (higher society, upper class). As the dog begins to be unable to interact with his human family he becomes ashamed and almost gives up on his new found ability. The idea of a talking dog has been thought up in the past, but the greedy granny cutting letters to raise profits all the while the dog persevering on like an average Joe surprised me.

The Gulp's

After choosing The Gulp's I had the feeling that the story would involve a lot of food. As you can see with the front cover each Gulp is big and is stuffing their face with some form of junk food. The title page continues the trend almost mirroring today's society. An overweight family going on vacation bringing along nothing but snacks and frozen foods. By portraying the family as nothing short of slobbish and lazy, the author Rosemary Wells brings to children's attention the reality of obesity to adults, but most importantly to children. Today's society is filled with fast food advertisements and food that is quick and easy, video games and technology. What it is not filled with is fruits, vegetables, dinner at the family dinner table and children outside riding bikes and playing. The story goes on to show the Gulp's unable to do simple jobs due to their unhealthiness. I have seen it while working in schools, children texting each other, more likely to sit with a Nintendo DS rather then go outside and get a game of Kickball going. This unhealthy lifestyle has gone on to long and like The Gulp's, who in the end find vegetables, fruit, exercise and healthy habits, hopefully children today can be steered in the right direction.