My Bio

My Bio
My name is Sharon Levin and I've been reviewing children's literature for 20 years. I founded and run the Bay Area Children's Literature List. My biggest passion (outside my family) is getting books into the hands of children and teens. My favorite thing is getting non-readers to realize that they're readers. I also LOVE t-shirts that have to do with books or literature. As soon as I figure out how to do it, I'll have a click through on the above picture so you can see my entire collection (and where to get them).

March 24, 2015

Bring it Back, THE GIGGLER TREATMENT

Image result for the giggler treatment 


Ah, The Giggler Treatment, a book I read every year to my daughters' classes from 1st - 5th grade.  It has since gone out of print, making it the subject of this week's BRING IT BACK plea.

It is absolutely HILARIOUS with tons of word play and a poo oriented plot (this is a plus in my opinion).  The Giggler Treatment is what happens to grownups who are not nice to children.  Not nice can mean sending them to bed without dinner, or, my personal favorite, farting and blaming it on the child (not that I would ever do that, that's what the dog is for).

Mr. Mack (who is married to Mrs. Fleetwood Mack) has sent the children to bed without dinner because they broke the bathroom window with a soccer ball ("How many times are you going to do that?" "Um, nine?" the son says accurately, NOT 'cheekily').  The gigglers decide he will get the treatment for this, so they go out to gather the necessary material, thereby missing when Mr. Mack lets the boys come down to dinner.

What is the necessary material you ask?  I am SO glad you did!  It's poo!  Fresh dog poo! Created by Rover (in this case), the neighbor's dog who is a millionaire due to his frequent contributions to the gigglers.

The entire book is an uproarious adventure with everyone (including the gigglers and
Rover) trying to save Mr. Mack from stepping in the poo.

I remember reading The Giggler Treatment aloud to my eldest's second grade glass.  Since it's a chapter book, I read it over the course of a week.  About three days into the book, one of the little boys came up to me and said, "My mother says that book you're reading us is disgusting."  I said, "Yes, and that is why YOU like it."

He thought about that for a second, nodded and sat down, waiting for me to read some more.