The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish

"I follow all of Dave McKean’s stuff, and I think he is wonderful. In this book, Neil Gaiman’s writing works really well. I could just read the text and enjoy imagining everything for myself because the writing is so wonderful. It’s essentially a story about how the dad of the title remains completely unconcerned as he’s swapped and moved and replaced. He doesn’t notice; you never see his face; it’s always behind a newspaper. Essentially, that’s the joke. It’s a bit like the Shaun Tan, it’s so rich. There’s so much going on: the use of texture, the line in it, they’re all fantastic. So are the sense of space and perspective in the illustration. Then, completely randomly, it introduces a character called the Queen of Menanicia—she turns up, says hello and is never referred to again! It’s exciting and playful. I love the story. I love the characters. But combined with those visuals—it just grabs you. Sign up here for our newsletter featuring the best children’s and young adult books, as recommended by authors, teachers, librarians and, of course, kids."