Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 3-6. Doyle brings back pretty much the same cast of characters from The Giggler Treatment 0 (2002), although without the Gigglers, for another adventure in high silliness and postmodern storytelling. The involved plot centers around the false arrest of Mr. Mack and efforts by his children and dog to free him, while his wife tries to be the first Irish woman to run around the world without telling anyone. Short chapters keep the multiple story lines moving, with occasional interruptions for the writer to get a cup of coffee and the dog to take over the word processor and attempt to send the plot in a different direction. Ajhar's pencil drawings add to the manic humor. Lots of silly fun, delivering plenty of laughs to young readers. --Todd Morning Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The Mack family from The Giggler Treatment returns in The Meanwhile Adventures by Roddy Doyle, illus. by Brian Ajhar. This time the Slugs of Dublin don crash helmets in their attempt to take over the world ("No legs good! Two legs bad!"), Mister Mack inadvertently robs a bank and Billie Jean Fleetwood-Mack attempts to break a world record. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-An award-winning adult author misses the mark with this frenetic children's fantasy. Fired from his job as a biscuit (cookie) taster, Mister Mack decides to become a mad inventor and is mistakenly arrested as a bank robber. Meanwhile, his sons Robbie and Jimmy try to break him out of jail. Meanwhile, their mother is trying to break the women's record for running around the world. Meanwhile, four-year-old sister, Kayla, and her friend Victoria set out after Mom, accompanied by canine entrepreneur Rover. The book switches dizzyingly among the four stories, with occasional startling digressions including an army of militant slugs trying to take over the planet. The pukelike creatures from Doyle's The Giggler Treatment (Scholastic, 2000) make a return appearance, still pursuing their mission of depositing dog "poo" in the paths of grown-up evildoers. There is considerable insult dialogue and body-function humor. The black-and-white drawings, featuring wide staring eyes and quizzical expressions, are amusing if a trifle unsettling. The disparate stories finally link up, more or less, but by that point, most readers won't care.-Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
When Mr. Mack applies for a bank loan for his invention (a saw that resembles a machine gun), he gets arrested. Meanwhile, his sons dig a tunnel to his jail cell, and his dog, his daughter, and her friend search for Mrs. Mack, who is secretly setting a world record. Fans of the silly and gross will enjoy the somewhat uninspired but fast-paced nonsense. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Jimmy Mack, when are ya comin' back? This silly endeavor, the companion to Doyle's The Giggler Treatment (2000) answers this question and others--such as what happens when loopy Mister Mack invents a saw that resembles a machine gun and where's Billie Jean Fleetwood-Mack gotten to. Filled with mostly uninspired lunacy, there's probably enough grossness, illogic, non sequiturs, and irrelevant sidebars here, woven together with lots of meanwhiles, to entertain your average middle-grader with a short attention span. Going off on tangents seems to be this author's road to humor, but will your average middle-grader, especially one with a short attention span, follow him down this Irish road long enough? Hard to say. Meanwhile . . . the illustrations are amusing. (glossary of Briticisms/Irishisms) (Fiction. 9-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
