View source for Martha, No! by Edward Hardy and Deborah Allwright

{{infobox2
|title=Martha, No!
|author=Edward Hardy and Deborah Allwright
|reviewer=Keith Dudhnath
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=A naughty girl runs her nanny ragged in a picture book with plenty of charm, but that also has room for improvement.
|rating=3.5
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1405240789
|pages=32
|publisher=Egmont
|date=September 2010
|aznuk=1405240784
|aznus=1405240784
|cover=1405240784
|website=
http://www.kissyhuggra.com/
}}

Martha Felicity Molly-Anne May gets through nannies faster than most kids get through... well, everything. She's a bit of a handful is our Martha, always doing what she shouldn't, and running her nanny ragged. Her day is, unsurprisingly, peppered with cries of ''Martha, noooo!''

There's a lot to enjoy in ''Martha, No!'', particularly the old-school charm. Any mention of nannies immediately brings to mind Mary Poppins and the whole world of [[:Category:Hilaire Belloc|Hilaire Belloc]]. No modern takes here - this could have been written 50 or 100 years ago without any significant changes, and that adds strongly to the quality. Although I tend to prefer iconoclastic modern picture books, it's lovely to get back to a classic feel often, and ''Martha, No!'' does exactly that.

Deborah Allwright's illustrations suit the mood wonderfully. Much like the text, they have a classic charm to them, but they never feel remotely stuffy or twee. Martha's naughtiness is a joy to behold, and I particularly loved seeing her stacks of teacups. Kids will love seeing all the shenanigans Martha gets up to, and will often want to pore over a page.

It's not unabashed praise from me though. There's one clunk, one nit-pick and one grumble. Clunk first: whilst the rhymes are strong throughout, the rhythm isn't always perfect. On a few occasions it feels like there's a syllable too many, or you need to backtrack to change the emphasis. Repeated readings make it easier, but it could have been much tighter. That said, I loved the line:

''But with two and then three cups, her teacups soon grow...''

Three cups/teacups. Brilliant flow, huh?

The grumble concerns the message: no-one but mothers can look after kids. I suppose ''actually'' the message is that ''only'' dumping kids with nannies is a bad idea, which is, of course, true, but it could have been phrased better to give a better impression. As for the nit-pick, Martha goes to the Science Museum to see the tyrannosaurus. Maybe it's different in other countries, but here in the UK, that should be the Natural History Museum. I know I shouldn't mind as much as I do, but I'm afraid I do.

None of the negatives spoil the book, but they do make it seem like a missed opportunity to be a must-have. Maybe you'll mind them less than I will. ''Martha, No!'' is certainly worth a look.

My thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.

[[Jim, Who Ran Away From His Nurse and Was Eaten By A Lion by Hilaire Belloc and Mini Grey]] fits perfectly into the world of nannies and naughty kids. [[Hattie the Bad by Jane Devlin and Joe Berger]] is hilarious. [[What Small Rabbit Heard by Sheryl Webster and Tim Warnes]] is about a rabbit rather than a person, but Small Rabbit is a little bit cheeky and great fun.

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[[Category:Edward Hardy]]
[[Category:Deborah Allwright]]