The Meanwhile Adventures - Hardcover

RODDY DOYLE won the Booker Prize in 1993 for his adult novel, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. Once a Geography and English teacher in North Dublin, Roddy Doyle has written four novels for children. This is his first picture book.

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 puckish 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
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