Rover Saves Christmas - Couverture rigide

In his first story for children, Booker Prize winner Doyle (Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha) pens a robustly silly romp served up with a generous helping of Irish cheek. At the outset of the tale, Mister Mack, a biscuit tester, is about to step in "dog poo." Displaying a gleefully sadistic sense of timing, Doyle draws out the suspense to outrageous lengths, interrupting his narrative with chapter after chapter of digressions that keep readers squirming in their seats until--does the patriarch step in it or doesn't he? . . . A bracingly rude dose of fun. -- Publishers Weekly
Beware, all grown-ups who are contemplating being mean to a child. Do so at your peril. Pay no heed to this warning and you'll be in for . . . the Giggler Treatment! In this funny, very silly, and very gross story for middle graders, Booker-winning Irish author Doyle (for adults, A Star Called Henry, 1999, etc.) proposes that dog poo--a word he deeply enjoys using and describing--lays around for the punishment of adults who are unkind to kids. . . This ludicrous book should more than please the most fervent among the gross-out set. Wait till they see what passes for chapters here, too: one's named for the author's mother (so that he could stay up late) and another, for his refrigerator. Includes an exquisitely wacky glossary. -- Kirkus
The award-winning adult novelist offers a delightfully funny and gross book that should appeal to the many fans of Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" series (Scholastic). . . . The comical pen-and-ink cartoons will bring additional giggles. The presence of dog poo as a major element will be enough to draw some readers, but the imaginative narrative and clever plotting make this more than just another silly read. -- School Library Journal

The book has as many surprises as an encyclopedia, including chapter headings that alone are worth the price of admission, but with none of the sobriety. To its credit, the plot is as contrived as possible and proves that, in the right hands, digression is an art form. To be more specific would be to spoil a whole lot of fun.The story is, just by its premise, slightly naughty, but nicely so, never offensively. Has a child ever not tittered about body functions, be they of man or beast? (Second graders, it seems to me, should be ready to handle the book themselves; after that, anyone who can still see the pages. And it was made for read-aloud family fun, no matter how young the audience.) It's in sum, and not to damn the book with the cliched praise of reviews, a delight. It really is clever, insightful, sensical, nonsensical, knowing, amusing, witty, wacky. It makes you laugh out loud; it makes you laugh to yourself. It gives you a contagious case of the you-know-whats.
-- The New York Times Book Review

The cast of characters from The Giggler Treatment (Scholastic, 2000) is back. This time the action shifts from Dublin to the North Pole as Rover is needed to replace Rudolph at the front of Santa's reindeer team. Fans of Dav Pilkey, Jon Scieszka, and Lemony Snicket will appreciate this zany, irreverent story that spoofs literary and bookmaking conventions and includes references to Harry Potter, dog poo, and monkeys' bums. Doyle depicts a somewhat insecure Santa who needs some spunky, problem-solving kids and a crafty dog to get the job done. Don't expect a straightforward, traditional, linear narrative. The wordplay and the gags are the important things here. Even the glossary of Irish expressions is part of the fun.
--School Library Journal, October 2001

Combine on talking dog, Santa Claus, his reindeer Rudolph, who has the flu, lizards that change their names to fit a climate, four children, and a variety of talking objects and appliances, add an irreverent tone and cheeky style, and presto: a nonsensical and nonlinear story based on the belief in Santa. Rover (The Giggler Treatment, 2000) subs for Rudolph and with

Born in Dublin, Ireland in 1958, Roddy Doyle has become one of the most renown and celebrated Irish authors of the late twentieth century. Doyl received his Bachelor of Arts from St. Finian’s Christian Brothers School in Sutton and went on to University College, Dublin. Upon the completion of his education, Roddy Doyle worked as a Geography and English teacher in Kilbarrack, North Dublin.

Roddy Doyle’s adult novel, Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha, a story about a ten-year old boy living Ireland, won Doyle the Booker Prize, the United Kingdom’s greatest literary honor.

Roddy Doyle lives in Ireland with his wife, Belinda and their two children.