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The Rover Adventures #1
Il trattamento Ridarelli
“Il signor Mack stava andando alla stazione. Era una bella giornata di sole. Gli uccellini sui rami cantavano la loro canzone preferita, e spirava un’arietta piena dei profumi della prima colazione: pancetta, uova, zampe di rana e cavolo verzo”. Il signor Mack fa un lavoro davvero interessante: l`assaggiatore di biscotti. Ma una mattina, sulla strada per la fabbrica di biscotti, lo aspetta un destino davvero ingrato (e puzzolente): è sul punto di sperimentare... il trattamento Ridarelli. A chi tocca il trattamento Ridarelli? Agli adulti che sono cattivi coi bambini, che raccontano che una cosa sa di pollo quando non è così, che fanno le puzze e incolpano i figli, che mangiano l`ultima fetta di pizza senza nemmeno offrirne un po` agli altri.
Audiobook
First published January 1, 2000
44 people are currently reading
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About the author
Roddy Doyle
127 books1,647 followersRoddy Doyle (Irish: Ruaidhrí Ó Dúill) is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. Several of his books have been made into successful films, beginning with The Commitments in 1991. He won the Booker Prize in 1993.
Doyle grew up in Kilbarrack, Dublin. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from University College, Dublin. He spent several years as an English and geography teacher before becoming a full-time writer in 1993.
Doyle grew up in Kilbarrack, Dublin. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from University College, Dublin. He spent several years as an English and geography teacher before becoming a full-time writer in 1993.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 333 reviews
November 27, 2012
I have never seen children's comedy written this way before. It was a shock to the system and a guilty pleasure at the same time. If I could ever write a book one tenth as funny as this I would happily retire from writing tomorrow. If you don't wet your pants laughing at this tale then quickly go and see a doctor. Something could be wrong with your bladder.
December 27, 2008
The Giggler Treatment is all about poo.
So if you too are a fan of the poo,
Like I too am a fan of the poo,
Then Rover's pile is the poo for you.
If you're a bad Mom or a crabby Dad,
An adult who likes to make kids sad,
A nasty old vampire named Bloody Vlad
Or a President who won by a hanging chad.
If you're a grumpy Gus who yells and yells
A cook who always leaves in oyster shells,
Or a big old tattletale who always tells
You best be prepared for stinky smells.
Cause the Gigglers, they will not let you
Leave this place without a dose of dog poo
On the bottom side of your size ten shoe.
There, I've given you your only clue.
You must do what Mister Mack dids,
And always be nice to your little kids,
Otherwise you'll have a pair of Blids,
That smell of gooey, pooey skids.
So if you too are a fan of the poo,
Like I too am a fan of the poo,
Then Rover's pile is the poo for you.
If you're a bad Mom or a crabby Dad,
An adult who likes to make kids sad,
A nasty old vampire named Bloody Vlad
Or a President who won by a hanging chad.
If you're a grumpy Gus who yells and yells
A cook who always leaves in oyster shells,
Or a big old tattletale who always tells
You best be prepared for stinky smells.
Cause the Gigglers, they will not let you
Leave this place without a dose of dog poo
On the bottom side of your size ten shoe.
There, I've given you your only clue.
You must do what Mister Mack dids,
And always be nice to your little kids,
Otherwise you'll have a pair of Blids,
That smell of gooey, pooey skids.
January 26, 2018
Siamo seri: un libro che riesce a mantenere con maestria, dalla prima all'ultima pagina, la tensione drammatica data dal piede di un uomo che sta per calpestare della cacca di cane è - a prescindere; a mani basse, proprio - un libro che vale la pena di essere letto.
Se poi ci aggiungiamo i titoli di capitoli più strani e entusiasmanti che si siano mai visti su carta stampata, beh, proprio non c'è storia.
Se l'ho trovato così meraviglioso io che ho trent'anni, non oso nemmeno pensare quanto potrebbe amarlo un bambino. Consigliatissimo.
Se poi ci aggiungiamo i titoli di capitoli più strani e entusiasmanti che si siano mai visti su carta stampata, beh, proprio non c'è storia.
Se l'ho trovato così meraviglioso io che ho trent'anni, non oso nemmeno pensare quanto potrebbe amarlo un bambino. Consigliatissimo.
May 24, 2025
4.5 ⭐️
Quando la narrativa per l’infanzia è così ben scritta è universale.
Quando la narrativa per l’infanzia è così ben scritta è universale.
May 13, 2021
First published on my blog,
Nine Pages
.
I was introduced to this story and to Roddy Doyle by A. LaFaye in a History and Criticism of Children’s Literature class at Hollins University. I fell in love with it perhaps almost instantaneously, opening its package at the dinner table and promptly passing it around or reading the back cover’s blurb aloud (I forget which). I read it before class, then for class, and several times since term ended (two years ago, but it never feels that long ago).
The story, coming to us from Ireland, solicitously translates the Irish expressions for Americans so that we know that Mr. Mack, a biscuit tester, spends his day with cookies. Also we are ready to translate, “Quick! Quick! My cookie is bleeding! Give me a Band-Aid!” to “Quick! Quick! My biscuit is bleeding! Give me a plaster!” (7).
That’s just a taste of the absurd, tongue-in-cheek humor of Roddy Doyle’s book.
I have always been partial to this style of nonsense.
There’s a lot in this book that reminds me of some childhood favorites of mine: Louis Sachar’s Wayside School books particularly but also Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein, all men who don’t underestimate children’s intelligence or their ability to pick up on absurdity and word play.
The chapter titles in particular are wonderful examples of the playfulness with which Doyle treats traditional fiction: “Chapter One,” “The Return of Chapter One,” “A Chapter That Isn’t Really a Chapter Because Nothing Really Happens in it But We’ll Call it Chapter Four,” “Chapter Something”…. Somewhere around “Chapter Sixteen” (which comes after “Chapter Two Million and Seven”), Doyle gives up on numbering the chapters and begins to use the questions that the chapters answer as headers: “How Many Inches Now?,” “Where in the World is Rover? {II}”….
Doyle’s is metafiction. It shatters the 4th wall to such an extent that there’s hardly any wall left.
He is a present narrator and acknowledges the fiction of his story. Doyle speaks directly to the audience about himself as a person and as a writer. He discusses his country and its language and references his grandmother (“I was tempted to put in a dinosaur in a leather jacket who bullies old people, but my grandmother wouldn’t lend me her leather jacket”) (7) and mother, after whom he names a chapter: “This Chapter Is Named After My Mother Because She Said I Could Stay Up Late if I Named it After Her: Chapter Mammy Doyle” (49).
The audience occasionally interjects with a question too, making them a presence within the text if not in the story.
Characters also sometimes interrupt the text to interact with the author.
Beyond the hilarity of this play with the traditional narrative style, Doyle’s story tells of a loving family (always a wonderful thing) able to do extraordinary things through their love, like understand the complex sentences of their youngest daughter, expressed using only the word “A-bah.” Well, that’s not perhaps the main focus of the story. The main focus of the story is the dog poo left by the Gigglers, invisible creatures bent on punishing adults for mistreating children. The Gigglers witness Mr. Mack losing his patience with his two sons but not the apology that he later gives them, and so they seek out a big squishy pile of poo and scoot it onto the sidewalk for Mr. Mack to step into on his way to work. The Mack children learning by chance of the Gigglers’ planned revenge set out with their mother and the dog Rover (who provided the poo) to save Mr. Mack from this misplaced punishment. Four steps of Mr. Mack’s encompass the whole of the 105-page story with all of its bunny trails and backstory.
I was introduced to this story and to Roddy Doyle by A. LaFaye in a History and Criticism of Children’s Literature class at Hollins University. I fell in love with it perhaps almost instantaneously, opening its package at the dinner table and promptly passing it around or reading the back cover’s blurb aloud (I forget which). I read it before class, then for class, and several times since term ended (two years ago, but it never feels that long ago).
The story, coming to us from Ireland, solicitously translates the Irish expressions for Americans so that we know that Mr. Mack, a biscuit tester, spends his day with cookies. Also we are ready to translate, “Quick! Quick! My cookie is bleeding! Give me a Band-Aid!” to “Quick! Quick! My biscuit is bleeding! Give me a plaster!” (7).
That’s just a taste of the absurd, tongue-in-cheek humor of Roddy Doyle’s book.
I have always been partial to this style of nonsense.
There’s a lot in this book that reminds me of some childhood favorites of mine: Louis Sachar’s Wayside School books particularly but also Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein, all men who don’t underestimate children’s intelligence or their ability to pick up on absurdity and word play.
The chapter titles in particular are wonderful examples of the playfulness with which Doyle treats traditional fiction: “Chapter One,” “The Return of Chapter One,” “A Chapter That Isn’t Really a Chapter Because Nothing Really Happens in it But We’ll Call it Chapter Four,” “Chapter Something”…. Somewhere around “Chapter Sixteen” (which comes after “Chapter Two Million and Seven”), Doyle gives up on numbering the chapters and begins to use the questions that the chapters answer as headers: “How Many Inches Now?,” “Where in the World is Rover? {II}”….
Doyle’s is metafiction. It shatters the 4th wall to such an extent that there’s hardly any wall left.
He is a present narrator and acknowledges the fiction of his story. Doyle speaks directly to the audience about himself as a person and as a writer. He discusses his country and its language and references his grandmother (“I was tempted to put in a dinosaur in a leather jacket who bullies old people, but my grandmother wouldn’t lend me her leather jacket”) (7) and mother, after whom he names a chapter: “This Chapter Is Named After My Mother Because She Said I Could Stay Up Late if I Named it After Her: Chapter Mammy Doyle” (49).
The audience occasionally interjects with a question too, making them a presence within the text if not in the story.
Characters also sometimes interrupt the text to interact with the author.
Beyond the hilarity of this play with the traditional narrative style, Doyle’s story tells of a loving family (always a wonderful thing) able to do extraordinary things through their love, like understand the complex sentences of their youngest daughter, expressed using only the word “A-bah.” Well, that’s not perhaps the main focus of the story. The main focus of the story is the dog poo left by the Gigglers, invisible creatures bent on punishing adults for mistreating children. The Gigglers witness Mr. Mack losing his patience with his two sons but not the apology that he later gives them, and so they seek out a big squishy pile of poo and scoot it onto the sidewalk for Mr. Mack to step into on his way to work. The Mack children learning by chance of the Gigglers’ planned revenge set out with their mother and the dog Rover (who provided the poo) to save Mr. Mack from this misplaced punishment. Four steps of Mr. Mack’s encompass the whole of the 105-page story with all of its bunny trails and backstory.
February 3, 2019
The most I have laughed that I can remember.There was a surprise in every chapter.Brilliant dialogue ,breathtaking suspense,talking dogs and babies,strange creatures.This book deserves every literary award there is.
January 2, 2016
My son and I giggled. We liked the seagull best.
March 20, 2021
És molt divertit. M'ho he passat molt bé. És tot el què li demano a un llibre.
March 14, 2020
Ridarola
"Vi è scoppiata la ridarola"...diceva la mia mamma quando ci sentiva scoppiare a ridere senza riuscire a fermarci, senza nemmeno ben saper perchè.
e capita solo ai bambini, e gli adulti non possono capire...
e fanno un'invidia...
I ridarelli di Roddy Doyle mi hanno ricordato quei singulti, quel clima festoso da niente, quella leggerezza birichina che ti rende la memoria dell'infanzia un paradiso perduto, e che a volte abbiamo bisogno di ritrovarci in qualche modo dentro...
Perchè a volte piccoli o grandi avvenimenti ti abbattono, e allora senti dire che se cadi è meglio se ti rialzi in fretta, se un cavallo ti butta a terra per reagire devi tornare in sella subito, senza pensarci troppo su.
Ecco, questo libricino per bambini mi ha rimesso in sella. Non riuscivo più a leggere. E i Ridarelli, con il loro compito meraviglioso di far pestare una cacca a chi tratta male i bambini, sono stati come un calcio nel sedere per darmi una mossa, e rimettermi in sella che c'è ancora tanto da fare.
Grazie a Topkapi che l'ha messo in una busta e me lo ha fatto avere al momento giusto.
Lo so...era per mia figlia, ma ho fatto bene a prendermelo in prestito per una mezzoretta...
"Vi è scoppiata la ridarola"...diceva la mia mamma quando ci sentiva scoppiare a ridere senza riuscire a fermarci, senza nemmeno ben saper perchè.
e capita solo ai bambini, e gli adulti non possono capire...
e fanno un'invidia...
I ridarelli di Roddy Doyle mi hanno ricordato quei singulti, quel clima festoso da niente, quella leggerezza birichina che ti rende la memoria dell'infanzia un paradiso perduto, e che a volte abbiamo bisogno di ritrovarci in qualche modo dentro...
Perchè a volte piccoli o grandi avvenimenti ti abbattono, e allora senti dire che se cadi è meglio se ti rialzi in fretta, se un cavallo ti butta a terra per reagire devi tornare in sella subito, senza pensarci troppo su.
Ecco, questo libricino per bambini mi ha rimesso in sella. Non riuscivo più a leggere. E i Ridarelli, con il loro compito meraviglioso di far pestare una cacca a chi tratta male i bambini, sono stati come un calcio nel sedere per darmi una mossa, e rimettermi in sella che c'è ancora tanto da fare.
Grazie a Topkapi che l'ha messo in una busta e me lo ha fatto avere al momento giusto.
Lo so...era per mia figlia, ma ho fatto bene a prendermelo in prestito per una mezzoretta...
January 12, 2024
Lighthearted relief after a big trip, read this classic kid’s book otw back from India & Sri Lanka. Generously giving 5 stars as ‘Year 5 me’ would’ve been HOWLING.
February 3, 2024
I LOVED this book great people cute creatures funny content 5 stars
July 24, 2021
Un libro muy divertido que nos explica qué pasa cuando los adultos se portan mal con los niños.
El estilo es maravilloso y sorprendente ya que el narrador juega con los conceptos de siempre y les da una vuelta (o dos) así encontramos alocados títulos de capítulos, puntos de vista totalmente inusuales e incluso una marcha atrás para corregir un suceso bajo amenaza de un perro.
Genial para pasar un buen rato.
El estilo es maravilloso y sorprendente ya que el narrador juega con los conceptos de siempre y les da una vuelta (o dos) así encontramos alocados títulos de capítulos, puntos de vista totalmente inusuales e incluso una marcha atrás para corregir un suceso bajo amenaza de un perro.
Genial para pasar un buen rato.
September 27, 2017
My lad and I loved his story - what could be more fun than getting revenge on mean grownups by making them step in ginormous piles of poo. And Rover is awesome - one of the best dog characters in kids' books that I've encountered. Highly recommended for young readers and their parents alike.
April 7, 2020
Me and Toby absolutely loved this book, best book we've ever read together. Every adult should read this book at least once every two years, would keep you young, and remind you that there's more than meets the eye with dogs.
September 28, 2014
My favourite book.
February 9, 2019
Cute story.
Recommended to me by a fellow reader.
Recommended to me by a fellow reader.
November 4, 2025
At first glance, The Giggler Treatment appears to be a simple, scatological romp about mischievous little creatures called Gigglers who exact justice by ensuring that adults who are mean to children step in dog poo. But beneath the gleeful chaos and the olfactory horror lies a profound meditation on the moral economy of modern society.
Roddy Doyle does not merely write a children’s book, he constructs a post-Marxist fable. The Gigglers, unseen yet omnipresent, represent the invisible hand of justice, correcting the market failures of parenting through excremental intervention. Where institutions fail, the Gigglers step in (and make you step in something else). Their method though crude is quite symbolically rich: poop as the material residue of unchecked authority, redistributed to those who deserve a little humbling.
Mr. Mack, the unsuspecting victim of impending fecal fate, becomes an everyman figure of modern bureaucracy. A man so caught up in routine that he forgets empathy. The Gigglers’ act, therefore, is not vengeance but re-education: a brown, squishy moral awakening. The incident parallels the broader struggle between the oppressed (children) and the oppressors (adults who confiscate Game Boys). It asks: in a world where kindness is rare, who will make us slip into self-awareness?
Stylistically, Doyle wields humor as resistance. His narration breaks the fourth wall so often that it becomes a commentary on storytelling itself. Perhaps a postmodern reminder that all authority is ripe for being stepped on. The relentless silliness is not escapism; it’s activism disguised as giggling.
In conclusion, The Giggler Treatment is not merely about dog poo. It is about accountability. It is about social equilibrium achieved through organic matter. It is, dare I say, the most anarchic manifesto of justice since Marx put down his quill. Doyle reminds us that maybe just maybe the revolution won’t be televised, but it will be stepped in.
Rating: 12/10
Roddy Doyle does not merely write a children’s book, he constructs a post-Marxist fable. The Gigglers, unseen yet omnipresent, represent the invisible hand of justice, correcting the market failures of parenting through excremental intervention. Where institutions fail, the Gigglers step in (and make you step in something else). Their method though crude is quite symbolically rich: poop as the material residue of unchecked authority, redistributed to those who deserve a little humbling.
Mr. Mack, the unsuspecting victim of impending fecal fate, becomes an everyman figure of modern bureaucracy. A man so caught up in routine that he forgets empathy. The Gigglers’ act, therefore, is not vengeance but re-education: a brown, squishy moral awakening. The incident parallels the broader struggle between the oppressed (children) and the oppressors (adults who confiscate Game Boys). It asks: in a world where kindness is rare, who will make us slip into self-awareness?
Stylistically, Doyle wields humor as resistance. His narration breaks the fourth wall so often that it becomes a commentary on storytelling itself. Perhaps a postmodern reminder that all authority is ripe for being stepped on. The relentless silliness is not escapism; it’s activism disguised as giggling.
In conclusion, The Giggler Treatment is not merely about dog poo. It is about accountability. It is about social equilibrium achieved through organic matter. It is, dare I say, the most anarchic manifesto of justice since Marx put down his quill. Doyle reminds us that maybe just maybe the revolution won’t be televised, but it will be stepped in.
Rating: 12/10
September 5, 2023
Ich liebe dieses Buch 💗💗💗💗 am besten fand ich die Sachen mit dermot 💞
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 5, 2022
Esistono libri scemi, corti, improbabili, arruffoni e profondamente scorretti sotto tutti i punti di vista che però, niente da fare, sono capolavori? Eccolo qui, questo è il più grande di tutti.
Un centinaio di pagine in cui il signor Mack sta per pestare una cacca: fine della trama. Ogni centimetro di meno tra il terribile prodotto del cane Robert e la suola dell'assaggiatore di biscotti offre il pretesto per fare accadere di tutto - letteralmente - mentre il tempo si dilata all'infinito come un immenso elastico.
I Ridarelli come camaleonti, bis bis bis e aiutatemi a dire bis, i capitoli senza logica dai titoli e dalle forme geniali, i crackers - maledizione, i crackers sono pazzeschi, non è interessante? - , le morali alla fine e qualsiasi altra cosa accada qui dentro rende questo capolavoro spietato, travolgente e tutto boccacce la cosa più simile alla Guida Galattica per Autostoppisti riscritta da Mel Brooks per il suo bisnipote.
(Di Roddy Doyle, se siete grandini, concedetevi anche Paddy Clarke e proseguite nell'irriverenza più impertinente. E qualsiasi età abbiate, cercate la versione in audiolibro del Trattamento letta con mille voci da Neri Marcorè. Prego).
Un centinaio di pagine in cui il signor Mack sta per pestare una cacca: fine della trama. Ogni centimetro di meno tra il terribile prodotto del cane Robert e la suola dell'assaggiatore di biscotti offre il pretesto per fare accadere di tutto - letteralmente - mentre il tempo si dilata all'infinito come un immenso elastico.
I Ridarelli come camaleonti, bis bis bis e aiutatemi a dire bis, i capitoli senza logica dai titoli e dalle forme geniali, i crackers - maledizione, i crackers sono pazzeschi, non è interessante? - , le morali alla fine e qualsiasi altra cosa accada qui dentro rende questo capolavoro spietato, travolgente e tutto boccacce la cosa più simile alla Guida Galattica per Autostoppisti riscritta da Mel Brooks per il suo bisnipote.
(Di Roddy Doyle, se siete grandini, concedetevi anche Paddy Clarke e proseguite nell'irriverenza più impertinente. E qualsiasi età abbiate, cercate la versione in audiolibro del Trattamento letta con mille voci da Neri Marcorè. Prego).
August 8, 2017
Non si può vivere solo di libri per adulti :-) Questo è non solo per adulti, ma *anche* per bambini. Educativo per entrambi, dalla penna di D. è uscito un libro buffo, molto creativo e altrettanto intelligente. Visto l'utilizzo continuo della parola 'cacca' e di qualche 'scoreggia', non puo' non essere apprezzato dai bambini in età prescolare. Rimane grottesca la figura del gabbiano, che diventa di difficile spiegazione razionale. Anche se, per parziale consolazione, il libro è ben lungi dall'esserlo...
October 29, 2008
I want to say first that I think if I was between the ages of 7 & 10 and a boy, I'd probably have enjoyed this book a lot more. The book is based on "potty" humor so go from there. Gigglers are little creatures that punish adults who are unjust or mean to children. The entire book is based on a pile of dog "doo" and the process of getting a father to step into it. You can go from there pretty much on your own.
January 3, 2018
My 5 year old is just starting to have an interest in chapter books and this one is a good one to start with! Some of the chapters are one page long. I also loved the explanation of differences between British and American English. And, of course, the poo jokes.
November 5, 2018
Love the humour and the fact that this book tries to preempt the likely questions of the children (and adults) reading it. I especially love the background of the Gigglers and the Mack family.
September 12, 2019
I saw this book read to a year 2 class who loved it and found it very funny. The book doesn’t follow the traditional format and the chapters have names the children found funny such as ‘chapter 4 which isn’t really a proper chapter but we’ll call it chapter 4’. The story is about a some gigglers who make nasty adults stand in dog poo. There were lots of opportunities for the teacher to involve the children, for example, asking the to look shocked or annoyed along with the characters in the book. The topic of the book was very popular among the children and they were excited to read on. I also heard some of the children discussing the book after the reading had stopped.
March 29, 2025
Piacevolissima opera (ho ascoltato l' audiolibro letto da un bravissimo Neri Marcorè) pensata per i ragazzi ma adatta a tutti quelli che hanno voglia di una lettura divertente.
L' intera vicenda ruota intorno al tentativo della famiglia Mack di evitare al capofamiglia il "trattamento Ridarellli" (non vi rivelo dettagli ma mi limito ad anticiparvi che il trattamento in questione è molto...maleodorante!) ed è ricca di momenti assurdi, all'insegna dell'umorismo "non-sense".
Alcuni titoli dei capitoli sono davvero esilaranti ed il libro è riuscito in più punti a farmi veramente ridere. Sicuramente promosso, anche perchè ogni tanto una lettura leggera (ma non stupida) ci vuole proprio!
L' intera vicenda ruota intorno al tentativo della famiglia Mack di evitare al capofamiglia il "trattamento Ridarellli" (non vi rivelo dettagli ma mi limito ad anticiparvi che il trattamento in questione è molto...maleodorante!) ed è ricca di momenti assurdi, all'insegna dell'umorismo "non-sense".
Alcuni titoli dei capitoli sono davvero esilaranti ed il libro è riuscito in più punti a farmi veramente ridere. Sicuramente promosso, anche perchè ogni tanto una lettura leggera (ma non stupida) ci vuole proprio!
December 27, 2023
This was very very cute and beautifully illustrated and if you also want to know what the great secret of the gigglers (the giggler treatment) is, please read this book. It is very short but very funny and I can not imagine how much I would have loved it as a kid. ❤️
Great book to complete my challenge with.
Great book to complete my challenge with.
September 18, 2025
When I asked my class to show me their ratings for the book out of five with their fingers, they put all ten up. They found it very funny and laughed a lot.
As the adult, it’s a bit tedious to read and nothing much happens but at least the children love it
As the adult, it’s a bit tedious to read and nothing much happens but at least the children love it
June 28, 2022
reads just like an odobas classic
February 29, 2024
Finished reading this to my class of 7-8 year olds today and they loved it. Even marked one piece of writing afterwards where the child had decided to write in a similar style!
June 25, 2024
basically my childhood in a book
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