My Favorite Children's Books #3: The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish

Today is my dad's birthday, so I thought it was fitting to pick this book. :) He would probably rather be traded for 2 squirrels though. Also fitting, he shared his love for Neil Gaiman with me when I was a teenager and I am so glad he did. Happy birthday, Dad!





The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish
Written by Neil Gaiman
Pictures by Dave McKean




Two Goldfish (as I shall shorten it) is a cute little story about a boy who decides that his friend's 2 goldfish are so awesome that he must have them, at any cost. He offers him a variety of things, including baseball cards, books, a penny whistle, and Clownie the Clown. His friend wisely declines all of these offers. The boy sits and thinks and finally comes up with an outstanding offer...his father. The friend agrees and goes home happy with his trade.

When the boy's mother gets home, she is not quite so happy. In fact, she is a little peeved. She sends the boy out to retrieve his father and return the 2 goldfish. Unfortunately, the friend decided that Dad wasn't such a great deal after all. "All he did was read the paper." So begins a string of trades that takes the boy and his younger sister all around town, trying to get their dad back. In the end, they realize that he really is "a very good daddy" and are glad to have him back.

The artwork is different for a children's book, but knowing the author, it works well with his style. It's an interesting mixture of drawing, watercolors, and some collage of real pictures (the goldfish in particular). Overall, a great book for younger children. Especially those who are feeling grumpy towards their parents or have a tendency to want to trade their possessions.

That Time I Met Ann M Martin & Neil Gaiman

Also known as The Best Weekend Ever!! This is going to be super long and there will be lots of pictures, so be warned! :)

So, on April 19th I found out there was this thing called the Texas Library Association Convention and it was going to be in Ft Worth on the following weekend. Library con, awesome right? Then I found out Ann M Martin was going to be there. And I nearly fell out of my chair. I made it my mission to go and meet her. I figured I could go on Saturday, since the exhibit part was only $20 and hopefully she would be signing that day. (Spoiler: she wasn't) I posted on Facebook how excited I was...evidence:

And then my amazing, wonderful, fabulous coworker told me that our manager was going to be there with a booth for our magazine (for obvious reasons, I'm not going to say which one). She said I should email her because she had taken people in the past to help out. I freaked lol. So I did, she took an agonizingly long time (days) to reply, but it was worth it, because she said I could go on Friday with her! Woo!! Which turned out to be an excellent day, as that was the only day Martin was signing but I could still get in again on Saturday if I wanted to. Then I had to make the tough decision of what books to take to get signed lol. I decided on Kristy's Great Idea and Super Special #1 because those were the beginning of it all. And I know you're all wondering if I took anything to get signed for a giveaway...well, I did. :) More on that soon!

Friday morning, I got on the train to FW (much easier than driving) with my tote bag full of BSC goodness and was on my way. It was a short walk to the convention center, my manager met me with my badge and showed me to our booth and also where the authors would be signing. Here's our view before it actually opened.

Our booth did okay, I think, we had a fair amount of interest. My manager was super awesome about letting me go off and wander around. Ann was signing at 11, so I got in line about 15 minutes early. They were handing out free copies of the first in her newest series, Family Tree, and also Ten Rules for Living with My Sister and the remake of Kristy's Great Idea (which I didn't bother getting). As I am typing this, I took a break to check out Ten Rules and it looks pretty cute. :)

My BSC copies were definitely the most worn (my Super Special is completely falling apart actually) but that just shows how much they were loved, right? Ann noticed and we laughed about it. I was too shy to ask her for a picture, but I did get this (blurry) one of her before she signed mine (and her assistant who was really nice too). And stupidly, I didn't use my regular camera for any of the pics, but my cell phone. Dumb. Did I mention this was my first real book event? Or convention even? And mostly by myself? I've been to a PostSecret event before, but with my sister and other friends and it was very low-key. So this was pretty nerve-racking. But she was super nice and I managed to tell her that I've been rereading the BSC books for my blog and she thought that was great and I am so happy I got to go. And what did I get signed for all my lovely readers, you ask? Well, I got her new one, Family Tree, and BSC #2: Claudia & The Phantom Phone Calls and yes, I will be doing 2 giveaways SOON for those 2 plus some extra goodies! :)

So, after all that excitement I was wandering around looking at all the booths & came across a small sign that said "Ask us for Neil Gaiman signing tickets for Saturday" (or something like that). What??! I knew he was speaking on Saturday, but hadn't heard anything about a signing and wasn't even sure if I would come back Sat. I asked them if they still had any tickets and they said yes and gave me one...I was number 84 out of 100! I was definitely coming back! :) Saturday, I got there around 11:30 (the exhibit hall closed at noon) and picked up a few books super cheap. Here's my haul for the whole weekend: I bought Friends with Boys (which I have started & love), Emiko Superstar (one of the only Minx comics I don't own), and Twins (just cause). The rest were freebies...love it!

Then I went to get in line for Neil's signing. There were about 15 people ahead of me and half didn't have tickets. :( I felt bad for them, especially the girl who was first in line! (She ended up getting a ticket after all though.) They let us in in groups of 10 and we found out that he would only be signing his ARC of Fortunately, The Milk which is a very cute children's chapter book. I was super sad though, because I had wanted to get one signed for my dad for Father's Day since he was the one who first made me read Sandman and Gaiman's other books. And I had tweeted Neil that morning asking if it would be weird for him to sign my Little Endless Storybook, because I only have the giant Absolute Volumes of Sandman. He said no, not weird. :) But I got over it, obviously. Neil is so funny and gracious and has awesome hair and a great accent and I was so happy to get to meet him. I was even more shy with him though, I know I said thank you, but that's about it. :/ He drew a stegosaurus in everyone's books which was adorable.

I did get my picture with him though! I'm wearing my Harry Potter shirt lol...and yeah, I'm always that red. Pttthhh....Then I got to see his speech, which turned out to be the closing speech for the convention, which I should not have been in as I am not a librarian, which I got into anyway because they had old men and ladies for security hah! And it was wonderful, as I knew it would be. I tried to find video of it, but it doesn't seem to be up yet. I will update later if I find it, but the title was "What the [very bad swear word] is a children's book anyway?" :) And that was my super awesome, fabulous weekend!

Review: "The Graveyard Book"

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
4 out of 5 stars

I can still review spooky, Halloweeny books thru the end of the week right? I'm going with it, so yeah. :) I read this for the first time in 2010 so this was a nice revisit. Technically considered a middle grade book, it's still definitely creepy enough for the older kids (and weenie adults such as yours truly). I mean come on, the first sentence is: There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife. Doesn't that give you shivers down your spine? Gaiman is so great at descriptions and building a scene for the reader. And you can watch him read the entire book out loud at MouseCircus. Also, bonus scary story at Audible! (Not sure how long either will be up, so take advantage!)

What is this book about? Well, it's obviously about a graveyard. And it's also about Nobody. There is a man called Jack and a baby in a house and "circumstances" that cause said baby to go live in the graveyard. This baby grows into a young boy named Nobody Owens by the keepers of the graveyard. Bod was a quiet child with sober grey eyes and a mop of tousled, mouse-colored hair. Bod enjoys his life in the graveyard, for the most part, but sometimes he gets lonely and restless. He has friends of course: all the children of the graveyard, but they can be a little dull at times, seeing as some of them died several hundred years before. He meets a "living" little girl named Scarlett and becomes her "imaginary friend" for a while. He has a mum and a dad (although ghostly, they still love him as much as his first parents) and a caretaker named Silas (who I did not realize was supposed to be a vampire until reading some Goodreads reviews doh.) and a werewolf named Miss Lupescu for a teacher.

This book explores life in the graveyard and all the dangers that can befall a young, adventurous boy. And there are plenty...hiding from Jack, finding an ancient tomb guarded by spirits, getting kidnapped by some ghouls, helping a young (when she was alive) witch get a bit of closure, teaching some bullies a lesson, and more. But essentially, this is a story about a boy growing into a man. He must learn what "family" means and the differences between the living and the dead and also the non-differences. Bod also learns compassion, loyalty, the joys of learning new things, and when it is time to move on to bigger and brighter things. The ending makes me tear up a little, it's so bittersweet. I highly recommend this book, especially around Halloween!

Review: "Coraline"

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
3 out of 5 stars

It's October, the weather is turning cooler (much cooler for us Texans this weekend!!), Halloween is right around the corner, and ghosts, witches, & goblins are in the stores and on TV. It only feels right to read spooky books this month and I decided to start with Coraline. :) It has been several years (4+) since I've read this, so it was like starting over for me! I tried watching the movie when it came out on DVD and absolutely hated it. I don't know why.

I think I'm going to reread The Graveyard Book next and then maybe some Christopher Pike. Oh and I'm reading Edgar Allen Poe for my classic this month and should have several reviews up for that in the next few weeks. What are your favorite spooky books and movies for this time of year? Do you like the super scary books like Stephen King or are you a big coward like me and stick to the kid books? :) We watched Practical Magic yesterday afternoon, but our favorite Halloween movie is, of course, Hocus Pocus. (If you don't own this one, it looks like you can watch it all on YouTube!) And, since this has turned into a half update post...I'm thinking of doing a quick spooky book giveaway this week! I have a couple of extra Christopher Pike books so I thought it'd be a good time to give them away. It will probably be US only (I'll do a bigger one at Christmas!) so that I can get them sent out super quick. So look for that post tomorrow! Yay!!

Okay, on to the review! Coraline is a creepy story, yes, but it's more of an adventure too. Our titled character is a young girl (maybe age 7-8? It's not real clear) who has just moved into a large split-level house with her parents. She likes to spend her time exploring the large backyard and begging her mother for day-glo green gloves and froggy rainboots. Coraline is forced to stay inside one rainy day and so, at her father's suggestion, decides to explore the inside of the house. She counts all of the doors and discovers one that is locked. When her mother finds the key and opens it for her, she is disappointed to find that it is bricked up and once went to the flat next door, which is currently vacant. Her mother leaves it unlocked and Coraline goes on her way, but she can't stop thinking about that door.

Later on, Coraline again finds herself in front of the door and upon opening it, is (not so) surprised to see that it goes into a long hallway now. Walking thru she sees that she is somehow back in her flat, with her grandmother's old furniture and everything. But it all seems slightly off. Then she sees her mother. Or rather, her Other Mother. This woman sounds, looks, and acts just like Coraline's real mother, but she has flat, black, button eyes and there is something sharp and sinister about her. Same with her Other Father, although maybe not quite so much. Her Other Mother tells her that they have been waiting for her and want to do all the things her real parents don't have time for: play games, eat yummy treats, let Coraline wear whatever she wants, and really just pay attention to her. There is just one catch: Coraline must get new button eyes as well. That part really freaked me out lol.


Coraline declines, politely, and goes back to her own home, where she realizes her real parents seem to be missing. She knows that they are somehow trapped in the other land and that she must work up the courage to go back over there and save them. Luckily, she is not completely alone...she has a smart, sassy, talking black cat to help her and show her the Other Mother's true nature.

She wants something to love, I think. Something that isn't her. She might want something to eat as well. It's hard to tell with creatures like that.


Coraline's adventure to save her parents is funny in parts and terrifying in others. She comes to realize that she doesn't want "anything and everything" like her Other Mother is offering. No one really wants that. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted just like that, and it didn't mean anything? What then? She is a smart little girl, brave, resourceful and a real delight to read about. This is a quick read with illustrations scattered throughout that are guaranteed to give you the heebie-jeebies. And if you're a weenie, like me, you will read this in the middle of the afternoon on the couch with lots of noise going on lol. But if you are brave, like Coraline, tuck yourself in under the covers, late at night, with just one small light and prepare for delicious shivers up your spine.