Brian Doyle has a wonderful talent for making every detail seem special, especially about his daughter Lily. He has a unique view on life and an incredible faith that makes his books more than a worthwhile read. It is really inspiring to read his ideas on life.

This is a great book to relax with. Just curl up in a chair, and be welcomed to the Doyle family. I laughed and cried, and felt like a newly adopted family member. The stories in this book are so vivid, and wonderfully inspiring.

Reading this book made me look at all the little things. Brian's descriptions of his daughter were so vivid that it brought back memories of my own daughter early life. Clancy"s rules should be etched in stone as rules to live by. This book is a great book to read over a weekend.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this book. I picked it up for my son to read, but I wanted to read it first before I let him have it, and what a pleasant surprise it was. I don't generally expect too much from books geared for 10 year olds. This book is too good for a ten year old: only an adult will fully appreciate the humor. You'll read it in 2 hours, and it will be two hours well spent.

This book is one of the most memorable books I had as a child. The descriptive telling of everyday life in the famous village of Peggy's Cove and the struggle of the locals to deal with the tourists is great. The young boy in the story realizes what is important in life thorugh a litany of realistic and off the wall characters. Definitly one for the shopping basket

This book is called "The Giggler Treatment". It is written by Roddy Doyle and illustrated by Brian Ajhar. It is a funny book for ages 8 and above. It's about these tiny little creatures called Gigglers who watch over children and make sure grown-ups are treating them fair. And if not, then they get "the treatment" which is little pranks that the Gigglers pull off. One day Mr. Mack is walking to his work when all of a sudden the Gigglers put a pile of dog "poo" (which is "poop") in his path. But it was by accident. The Gigglers made a big mistake. Mr. Mack didn't deserve the treatment! Even though he had sent his kids up to their room, he fixed it later on. But the Gigglers didn't know he fixed it. So Rover, Robbie, Kayla and Billy Jean have to stop him from stepping in the "poo". I found that there were some weird words in this story and I had no idea what they meant. Thankfully there was a glossary where you can look up almost all the words that sound weird to you. For instance, "plaster" means "bandaid". I would recommend this silly book to kids who like funny stories.

This book is a delight from start to finish. I cannot honestly say that I am a judge of children's literature. I have not read kid's books since, well, since I was a kid, and that was in the early 60s! Are Captain W.E. Johns and Enid Blyton still popular? The only reason I bought the 'The Giggler Treatment' was Roddy Doyle's name on the cover. He is one of our best contemporary writers. 'The Barrytown Trilogy', 'Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha', and 'The Woman Who Walked Into Doors' are gritty slices of life which show a genuine sympathy and understanding of modern Irish life. Modern classics, every one of them. I was a bit surprised when I saw that he had written a children's book. Intrigued by the good reviews, I decided to risk buying it. I'm I glad I did. The story is just wonderful. It is clever, funny, ingenious, beautifully told, oh, and any other superlatives you like to add. (I particularly love the way that everything takes place within such a minuscule time span. Is Doyle rewriting the rules of children's 21st Century literature in the same way that Joyce did for the 20th Century novel? )

How a child would view this book, I don't know. Favourably, I would have thought. Doyle is irreverent enough to get them onto his side and funny enough to keep them there. There is so much in this book to admire. Buy it for a child, by all means; but read it first. You will enjoy.

A delightfully-rude and very funny children's book by Roddy Doyle, which answers the age-old question of how and why people step in dog poo on the sidewalk...The Gigglers are small, furry creatures with a chameleon-like ability to hide, whose mission in life is to give the Treatment to grown-ups who have been mean to children. Mr. Mack is a likeable biscuit-taster who's been set up for the Treatment by mistake (yes, he sent his sons to bed without supper, but immediately apologized) and the rest of the plot is a breakneck romp to see if anyone can prevent Mr. Mack from stepping in the largest pile of poo in the world...With asides and soliloquies and ridiculous chapter titles and droll illustrations...

I could imagine selecting this for a read-aloud storytime, and the kids all shrieking with laughter while their parents stood by, horrified that anyone would say "poo" out loud. It's that kind of book. Funny for grown-ups, too, with adult-level bad puns (Rover, the family canine, swears "to Dog" at one point, knows perfectly-well how to use the toilet and is of course embarrassed to have to poo outside, and uses the computer to e-mail his girlfriend in Galway) and an amusing glossary of Irish terms (biscuit=cookie, plaister=Band-Aid, etc.). Deliciously-ridiculous. Sure to be banned somewhere. Excuse me, but I've got to go find a kid to read this one to...

This is the first I've read by Brian Doyle. "Covered Bridge" is written as a series of lighthearted anecdotes and reflections of a teenage boy who is trying to come to terms with the several strange and delightful characters of a small town in Quebec's Gatineau Hills, while at the same time trying to solve a mystery.

The book also serves to introduce covered bridges as architectural and historical treasures, and illustrates very well how covered bridges become focal points for community identity and goodwill.

I like the book for teaching purposes, because it is not overwhelming to Grade Sevens. The chapters are very short, and the language is accessible to the mind of a twelve-year-old. Doyle includes a fair amount of humor and a tinge of romance, but leaves the latter as a tantalizing backdrop to the entire story. Examples of character sketches and humorous anecdotes abound within the unfolding story, keeping the reader wondering just how strange this little town really is!

Also available in paperback: Scholastic Books.

This wonderful and thought provoking book shows a great view of the little things of life that all of us take for granted. The simple recitation of grace (the Catholic version) often gets lost in the motions. Brian Doyle makes you think about the little things that makes up your everyday beliefs and rituals that are taken for granted and not examined. The simple act of the sign of the cross, I had forgotten the symbolism. Every Catholic boy that served his rookie year on the altar has similar rememberances. I too had to learn all the prayers only to be told that Latin was no longer necessary. The experiences that he relates make you think about things long forgotten. Doyle's writing style is simple and to the point. He is stingy with words in much the way Hemmingway was. The book is broken up into nice small sections that are easilly read and re read. A great Vacation book!

This is a comprehensive guide to kittens that will help the beginner find the right breed to suit their particular lifestyle. It includes all you need to know on the care and nurture of kittens, plus a section on showing. It takes the reader step by step through the selection of a kitten, the do's and don'ts of choosing and keeping a kitten, grooming, health, diet, costs, equipment and more. The section on pedigreed breeds is very informative: outward appearances as well as each breed's inner qualities and behavior are described. But domestic breeds are not neglected either. The text is enlivened by beautiful color and black & white illustrations, and the book contains a glossary and index. Although this book is primarily intended for the inexperienced cat owner, it is fully comprehensive and will be useful to all cat owners who have the welfare of their animals at heart

I swear, this book is about as bad as "The Giggler Treatment." Unlike The Giggler Treatment though, this books jokes aren't as sick. Also, it didn't focus at around 8 seconds of time. Those are the only good comments I have to say about that book. The rest of the book was about moronic talking lizards, a few fat and ugly reindeer, and a talking dog that somehow pees in a toilet. The dog somehow learns how to fly, and the rest is history. The book was so pointless, that I threw it down before I even got to the end of it. I also hated the way Roddy Doyle messed around with the chapters. I mean he wrote Chapter6 about 5 times and he did the same with about every other chapter. It's like come on, like this is funny. This book definately deserves one star out of 5. Don't read this book.

When my children and I found out that the Giggler Treatment had a sequel we ordered it immediately only to be very disappointed. Rover Saves Christmas just didn't measure up. We read the Giggler Treatment in one sitting--it was so funny my kids wouldn't let me put it down--it took us over two weeks to get through this one--rare in this house, and my five year old lost interest altogether. My seven year old found it mildly amusing, but it is not worth the hard cover price.

I just finished reading this book aloud with my 7- and 8-year-olds. They were rolling on the bed laughing from the beginning. Although some of the jokes took some explaining (They had no idea why cacti lining the streets of Dublin was a joke), they revelled in the humor, the ads and the aging Chapter 6. The divergent plot would certainly challenge the straight-laced "See Dick run" reader, but today's multi-tasking, cartoon-watching, video-game-playing kids should follow along just fine. We've just ordered "The Giggler Treatment" and can't wait to read that one together as well!

Tommy, aka the Shadow, is the main character of this book. A middle class kid growing up in post world war two, tommy and his friend Gerald try to find out who beat up their friend's father. I found this book to br fairly interesting, writen in the style of any young boy who thinks of himself as a great detective or whatnot. The characters are very human, all with their own habits, ect. The plot could have had some more dillema in it , though.