A boy traded his clueless dad who just sits on the couch reading newspaper all day and have no clue what's going on with his friend for 2 beautiful goldfishes, but when the boy's mother came back home, she yelled at the boy and told him to get his father back, but his friend traded his dad for something else, and this happened several times as he runs all over the town trying to get his dad back. Finally, he found his dad and brought him home but the dad didn't even have a clue of what happened and is still reading the same newspaper! What a weird father and what a weird son he has for trading something so priceless for something so common! ( )

What could possibly happen if you were a child who so wanted to have your friend's 2 goldfishes that you'd be willing to swap your Dad for them?

The children's actions are nuanced in a charming yet realistic manner, and it's easy to freely accept the logic of the book because it is, in essence, child logic.

McKean's drawings are primarily ink and what appears to be oil pastels, with occasional photographic images and newsprint worked in; full of collages, hidden messages, paint textures. Truly delightful and seamlessly ties with Gaiman's funny story.

I strongly suggest reading Gaiman's afterword. It's quite interesting and explains a lot about the book. As he said, "Of course one ought to be able to trade a father for goldfish. It seemed a sensible thing to do." :)

Book Details:

Title The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish
Author Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean
Reviewed By Purplycookie ( )

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 myself and found myself studying the techniques used in each illustration. ( )

Trouble happens when a boy trades his dad for two goldfish. Goldfish are fun, but how hard is it going to be to get dad back. Well, a lot.

Children's Picturebook, fanatsy

I have a soft spot for Neil Gaiman and know him from adult fantasy and comic books, and I wasn't sure how well it would translate. As it turns out it translates pretty darn well. It's funny and irreverent and definitely something that kids can relate to.

The downside of this book for the classroom is that the art is a little too loose, it's hard to relate to visually for kids. One-on-one you can walk through the story with a kid, but the messy pictures seem too busy for carpet time. ( )

Ask the studnets to write about what they would swap for Goldfish. Cut it out and play a game where the students swap different things and see what everyone has at the end.