Martha, by Susan Meddaugh

About Susan Meddaugh

Susan Meddaugh was born and raised in Montclair, New Jersey. Upon graduating from college, Susan worked briefly for an advertising agency in New York City and then moved to Boston, where she worked at a publishing company for ten years, first as a children’s book designer and later as art director. During this time she illustrated her first picture book, Good Stones, written by Anne Epstein. The experience inspired her to strike out on her own as a freelance illustrator and author/illustrator of children’s books.

Susan is the creator of many humorous and inventive books for children, including the wildly popular tales about Martha the talking dog. She has also illustrated numerous books for such authors as Eve Bunting and John Ciardi. Martha Speaks was included on the New York Times Best Illustrated List in 1992. In 1998 Susan was the honored recipient of the New England Book Awa rd, given by the New England Booksellers Association to recognize a body of work.

Susan is currently involved in a whole new endeavor: Martha the talking dog can now be seen and heard in the PBS TV series called—what else—“Martha Speaks.”

Susan lives in Sherborn, Massachusetts, surrounded by dogs. The pack now includes Kaiser (a 98 pound black lab from a shelter), Oats (a pug who needed a new home, and now has a role in the PBS series), and Dudley (a stray dog abandoned at a Georgia gas station). Susan’s house obviously has “decor by dog.”