Neil Gaiman - The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish

I have read many books by Neil Gaiman and my favorite ones were “Coraline,” a tale of a girl trying to find her real parents in a parallel world and “The Wolves in the Walls,” a tale about a girl and her family trying to get their house back after some wolves come out of their house’s walls and scares them out of their house. But, while I was looking for some more books by Neil Gaiman, I came across this book called “The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish.” This story is unique in many ways because it was Neil Gaiman’s first children’s book and is much tamer than his other works.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The book starts out with the main character, a somewhat crafty boy, telling the audience that his father does nothing but sit in his chair and read the newspaper all day. While he and his younger sister are playing outside, the boy’s friend, Nathan, comes for a visit and shows the boy two goldfish in a bowl. The boy wants to have Nathan’s goldfish for his own, but Nathan said that he will not give up his goldfish unless the boy trades him something better. The boy thinks of what kind of stuff he can give to Nathan that is better than the goldfish. Then an idea dawns on him and the boy says that he will swap his father for the two goldfish, of course, his younger sister objects to this idea and tries to tell the boy that he will get in trouble for this, but the boy would not listen and swaps his dad for the goldfish. Of course, the younger sister’s warnings come to light when their mother return home and finds out that the father is missing. When the sister finally tells the mother what happened (after being tied up by her brother and the mother having to untie her) the mother gets angry at the boy and demands that he go out and find the father or don’t come back. So, the boy and his younger sister go across town to retrieve their father and the boy and his sister meet many of the boy’s friends and they find out that his friends had each traded the father for something better. The boy finally finds his father at his crush’s house and they take him back home. The mother then scolds the boy for his actions and makes him promise not to swap his dad for anything again. BUT………..
Did the boy really learn his lesson? You have the read the end to find out!

PROS

I loved Neil Gaiman’s and Dave McKean’s teamwork in this book because they make the book funny and strange at the same time. Let me highlight Neil Gaiman’s storytelling first before I get into Dave McKean’s illustrations. Neil Gaiman writes this story with a simplistic tone because it is told from a child’s point of view and many people rarely see a controversial situation, such as trading your parent for something else, seen through a child’s eyes. Also, Neil Gaiman does an excellent job at making the boy seem pleased with his malicious act since he does not understand what he did wrong until his mother tells him off. The younger sister plays as the protagonist to the story as she tries to steer her brother away from his decision about trading his father for two goldfish before he gets into trouble with the mother.

Now, I am going to move onto Dave McKean’s illustrations. Unlike “Wolves in the Walls,” which is drawn by pastel paintings, this book is drawn in simple two-dimensional drawings because the story seems simple for children. However, Dave McKean also draws with a creative streak as he makes the brother larger than his sister (even though he is older than his sister to begin with) making him the all-mighty figure of the story since he is the main character of the story.

CONS

Parents should know that the ending was surprisingly creepy for a children’s book. I will not tell you what happens at the end but just keep in mind that there might be a sequel after this book and one shadowy and ogre-like image of the brother might scare younger viewers. Younger children may also be worried about the older brother’s behavior throughout this book. One such example is when the older brother ties up his sister to prevent her from rattling on him, something that many parents may be upset about how the brother treats his family members in malicious ways.

OVERALL

This book was terrific in many ways because I love Dave McKean’s masterful drawings and Neil Gaiman’s storytelling. My favorite parts of the book was when the boy tied up his sister to prevent her from telling on him, even though some parents may think that part was cruel. Overall, “The Day I Swapped my Dad for two goldfish” is an instant treat that children and parents would enjoy, but some parents may want to warn their children about the images portrayed in the ending before purchasing this book.