Customer Reviews

The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have always loved Gaiman's work, and this book is no exception. The story is humorous and engaging, and the writing has an honest sensitivity to the way children interact, behave, and speak (a rarity in children's books, I've found). The illustrations are pure delight; McKean's versatility shines.

Definitely worth picking up! Highly recommended!!!

Visually this book is a treat for art lovers and the story is laugh out loud funny! The author says that the genesis of the book was when his son got a little mad at him and said "I wish I didn't have a dad...I wish I had a goldfish! This book doesn't put a foot wrong. From the bizarre items the boy and his sister swop for their dad, to his mother's reaction when she comes home to the fathers total lack of reaction (he's a serious newspaper reader), to the little sister's misgivings...and the promise of another book in the last line is great!

***CONTAINS SPOILERS!!***

When I first started reading this book, I really wasn't sure what to expect. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the world of Neil Gaiman and I knew that this was more of a children's book, but I still had my doubts.

Having recently read The Graveyard Book, another book for children by Neil Gaiman, I was surprised at how short TDISMDFTG was. At first the pictures seemed very haphazard and annoying, but after a few pages in I felt entranced by what Dean McKean was creating with his illustrations. I loved how the goldfish were shown as real goldfish, and not a drawing of goldfish. That, paired with the almost-chicken-scratch drawings that appear throughout, and the beautiful drawings of the ideas of man, the illustrations actually weaved together to create a great atmosphere.

The story turned out to be very charming. As stated at the end of the book, Gaiman wrote TDISMDFTG after his son exclaimed that he wished, instead of his father, that he had goldfish. Don't we all wish we could swap a loved one for something else? You know, in those moments of anger where we don't really mean it? Kind of like in Home Alone where Kevin wishes that he didn't have a family and then he wakes up without one. Yeah, totally like that.

The main character wishes his father was as interesting as his friend Nathan's new goldfish and decides to swap Nathan for just that ' his dad. After all, all he does is sit around and read the newspaper.

A very quick read, one that took me about 10 minutes to get through, TDISMDFTG is full of mystery as the young boy and his sister search for the whereabouts of their dad (since his mom was NOT impressed at the arrangement!) and it's full of humour ' especially when they actually find their father. The banter between the boy and his sister is quite amusing and quite funny.

The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish is a memorable book that all ages can appreciate. Highly recommended!

Unfortunately, I can't say I enjoyed this picture book much. A cliched story of swapping one thing for another ... and so on, with a little twist that the thing being swapped is a boy's father. The father is oblivious to his repeatedly being swapped as he is immersed in reading the newspaper. When the mother finds out that father has been swapped for two goldfish she sends the son off to swap him back. Of course, when he arrives he finds out that his dad has been swapped for something else and the boy runs all over town re-swapping items until the mindless father is finally found. Can't say the story did anything for me at all and I really didn't like the portrayal of the clueless father. (A great book with a swapping theme that I highly recommend is The Seventeenth Swap by Eloise Jarvis McGraw.) However, I did really enjoy the mixed-media collage illustrations by McKean. I dabble in this artform myself and ended up studying the techniques used in each illustration.

One of the best children's books I've read in ages. Very clever, and the title is a blast!

Who wouldn't want to read a book that promises such a healthy dose of good-natured humor. A book that is obviously going to make them laugh ... either AT poor old Dad, or WITH poor old Dad. Ha-ha ...

I think this is an instant classic, and the illustrations are magnificent, perfectly in tune with the well-crafted plot.

AWESOME! (also recommended: The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley, Heat, Just Listen, Moon Shadow, Dragon Rider, The Uglies)

This is not a children's book. It is dark. Don't read this to yor children. This person should not be writing childrens books.

I'm sure I'm not the first reviewer here to say that I love this book as much as any kid ever could. Great story, great writing, exceptional artwork by the inimitable dave mckean. If you don't fall in love with this book, then I'd be willing to wager that you never had a childhood.

By any means necessary, no matter how old you are, read this book; even if you have to swap your favoritest family member for a copy. (I've heard Amazon does in fact accept this kind of bartering system)

Take Neil Gaiman, put him in a room together with Dave McKean. What do you get? Wonders. This dream-team has worked many times before and has produced some of the best Sandman comics in the bunch.

Although it is presented as a book for those who are still children at heart and offers a moral which should not be overlooked, it spins a wondrous yarn about a boy and his friends, and mocks the sixdegrees theory in its undertow...

Gaimanï¿s words are beautiful and McKeanï¿s art is fantastic. You can read this book over and over again and never tire of it, or just leaf through the pages and marvel at the pictures, which are a great source of amusement for children who are yet to be able to read on their own.

(I only wonder how come I never though about it doing this when I was 10...)

While I have been a fan of Neil Gaiman for years, I was disappointed that my 8 year-old son would not be able to read his work until his teen years. This warped children's book was right up his alley. We read this story more often than another book in our libarary. I'm so glad I was able to let me child in on the wonderful warped world of Gaiman so much sooner than I expected!

Much as I enjoyed the story & artwork, I have a HUGE bone to pick with McKean's lettering. He seems to hate the traditional balloons, so he just scrawls the dialogue in loopy letters across the painted panels, defacing his own work and incidentally obscuring Gaiman's by making it hard to read. Still, despite this caveat, it's a fine book --- I just wish Gaiman wouldn't let McKean do his own lettering.