Rover Adventures Books in Order
Part ofRoddy Doyle Books in OrderFollow the Rover Adventures series by Roddy Doyle in order, with book summaries, age guidance, series background and tips for enjoying these stories aloud with kids.
Last updated: December 26, 2025
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Publication Order
4 books
Rover and the Big Fat Baby
by Roddy Doyle
2018
When a Big Fat Baby tumbles from Granny Mack’s backpack, Rover the wonder dog and his obsessively tidy nephew Messi race to find her. Their chase across Dublin and beyond leaves the Gigglers dangerously short of poo for punishing misbehaving adults.
The Meanwhile Adventures
by Roddy Doyle
2004
Mr Mack’s latest invention, a saw that looks worryingly like a machine gun, lands him in jail when bank staff panic. While he tries not to confess to a crime he did not commit, Rover and the Mack children juggle jailbreak plans, a runaway mum and rebellious slugs.
Rover Saves Christmas
by Roddy Doyle
2001
It is Christmas Eve and Rudolph has the flu, grounding Santa’s sleigh along with every child’s presents. Rover the dog and the Mack children are recruited to stand in for the reindeer, launching a chaotic overnight dash around the world.
The Giggler Treatment
by Roddy Doyle
2000
When adults are mean to children, furry pranksters called Gigglers buy dog poo from Rover the wonder dog and plant it under the offenders’ shoes. When they target kind-hearted Mr Mack by mistake, his kids and Rover race through Dublin to rescue him in time.
Series background & context
The Rover Adventures books follow Rover, a talking dog with a talent for mischief, and the Mack family who live next door to him in Dublin. The stories are loud, silly and full of bodily-fluid jokes, but there is always a soft spot for kids who are not being listened to.
In The Giggler Treatment, readers meet the Gigglers, small furry creatures who punish adults that are unfair to children by planting dog poo under their shoes. Rover sells them the poo, but when the Gigglers target kind, distracted Mr Mack by mistake, his children and Rover race to stop a very smelly disaster.
Rover Saves Christmas sends the family and Rover off on a global dash when Rudolph comes down with the flu on Christmas Eve. Santa needs a substitute, so Rover is hitched to the sleigh, and the Mack kids end up helping to deliver presents before the sun comes up.
In The Meanwhile Adventures, Mr Mack’s latest invention gets him arrested when bank staff mistake his harmless saw for a gun. While he sits in jail, the family spin off into their own storylines, including a secret round-the-world voyage and even a plot by Dublin slugs to take over everything.
Rover and the Big Fat Baby brings the Gigglers back when a giant baby falls out of Granny Mack’s backpack and vanishes into the city. Rover and his neat-freak nephew Messi try to track her down, even as the Gigglers start to run out of ammunition for their poo-based justice.
The tone is chatty and very direct, with Doyle often breaking the fourth wall to talk straight to the reader. That makes these books great for reading aloud, especially with children who enjoy ridiculous humour but also like stories where grown-ups eventually try to do the right thing.
Although the adventures stand alone, reading them in order lets kids see the Mack family grow braver and slightly more responsible, while Rover stays gloriously the same, a dog who knows exactly how much power there is in a well-timed joke.
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