Love, Fishie

by Maddy Gaiman, Neil Gaiman

A birthday gift for Neil Gaiman’s 42nd birthday from his daughter Maddy Gaiman, this charming booklet features poems by Maddy and Neil, and provides an intimate glimpse at the author’s private life. Only 100 copies of this chapbook exist.

Genres: Poetry, Ebooks, Short Stories, Fiction, Childrens, Fantasy

42 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the stories I got when purchasing Neil Gaiman's Humble Bundle.

For those who do not know: these are stories and poems written by Maddy and Neil Gaiman whenever Neil was away and his daughter missed him. Plus some cute drawings. What made this such a treat was not only to see the general love between a father and his daughter (which already is heart-warming) but also what a creative family this is. Full of fun and colour and more fun and more colour. The introduction was also quite wonderful and it's just one of those things that makes you want to have grown up in exactly this kind of family!

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

   A cute little collection of Maddy Gaiman’s poems, artwork, and even a one act play. It’s fun seeing how an eight-year-old mind works and what she decides to write, and how it fits together. Quiche’s introduction (her editor/typist/ticklemaster) is informative, her daddy’s poems interspersed play off of her works, and she has an impressive “about the author” section all to herself.

[Daenerys]

Finally reading some bits of Neil Gaiman's humble bundle a few years after getting it. I honestly do not feel it's fair to give this a star rating - it was, after all, written by an 8-year old for her dad's birthday. There are a few short poems by Gaiman and a sweet intro by Maddy's mum, and on the whole it gives readers a glimpse into what their relationship is like. Very sweet.

[Selena Pigoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute.

Mostly poetry and silly writings by an eight year old. If you read this one, accept it for what it is. A few of Maddy's poems did get a good chuckle out of me.

There are a few of Neil Gaimen's sprinkled throughout, also cute and silly.

[Alysa H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually quite charming!

[Eric Mesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since Maddy Gaiman wrote this when she was 8 and I have a nearly-8 year old who loves to read and write, I figured it'd be a fun book to read together. She enjoyed it even though poetry isn't her thing. I thought it was pretty neat that Maddy and Neil Gaiman write poems to each other. Overall, it's a pretty neat collection.

[Dragan Nanic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got it as a part of Neil Gaiman's Humble Bundle.

I liked the way it shows the relationship of an 8 year old and her dad in an artistic family that encourages expressing yourself from the early age. Otherwise, it is still an 8 year old and her dad and it could have stayed private - it has much more value to them.

[★ℕłℂØℓҾ★ (Nix) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Acquired through Neil Gaiman's Rarities Humble Bundle.

I especially loved Neil Gaiman's little inserts.

"I wish
My fish
That you
Were here
So I
Could hug
And hold
You near..."

Memorized the whole thing on the first reading. So simple, yet so endearing! ❤️

[Nicole]

Read May 2016
Got this as part of Neil Gaiman's 2015 rarities Humble Bundle.
I have no idea what kind of star-rating to give to this though, so I’m just going to leave it without.

[Pinchy]

Zelo luštno, zabavno. Pogled iz otroškega kota - naivno a iskren.

[David Raz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got this as part of the 2016 Humble Bundle.

I have to be honest on this one. It might have has some value as a Neil Gaiman rarity, and it may have two or three half decent pages by him, but other than that, it has the quality of what any normal eight year old could write for her father. I did not find it in any way charming or entertaining, nor did it "provide an intimate glimpse at the author’s private life". Reading it was just a chore I felt I must do as a fan, and almost a total waste of time.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 2 out of 5]

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3784378.html

This is mostly a collection of poems by Gaiman's daughter Maddy, then aged eight, with some proud parental commentary. They're about as good as you would expect from an eight-year-old in a literary household.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sweet little book written by an 8 year old girl with a little help from her father. Reading her little stories and seeing imagination at work reminded me of my own childhood. The addition of Neil Gaiman's letters to his daughter helped to show the love a father feels for his daughter and reminded me of my own father/daughter relationship.

[bels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading it in one sitting and I enjoy it so much, I didn't realize, I just finish the book. Such an amazing book. And if I was eight years old, this book would be very relatable. Dang, even I was so very hungry today.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the odder things included with the Neil Gaiman Humble Bundle from back in 2015. I decided to read it today, since I'm reading a bunch of random lighter stuff today. It's kind of unfair to rate or review this, since it was written by an eight-year-old. But it was fun.

[MJ]

A part of the Humble Bundle. Cute and sad.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humble Bundle

[Elin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was extremely cute. It's mostly written by Gaiman's then 8-year-old daughter Maddy. The poems in it were simple and obviously written by a child, but I couldn't help smiling because the whole thing was so cute. Gaiman's own poems in this Collection were only replies to his daughter's poems, that they sent each other as emails when Gaiman was out of town for conventions or signings. So cute :3

[Riley]

Adorable!

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very cute book from my Neil Gaiman's Rarities Humble Bundle, poems, drawings, and short stories shared between Neil and his daughter Maddy. It reminded me of Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, I think another sort of book like this is Letters from Father Christmas (but I'm not sure as I haven't yet read it).

There are very few other kinds of books that look into a author's family life (be that author a mother or father or child), this was both bitter and sweet glimpse.

[Francisco Tello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another "book" I got as part of Neil Gaiman's Rarities Humble Bundle.

This is actually very personal, and I am kind of surprised he chose to share this. It is a collection of letters, short stories, poems and drawings he exchanged with his daughter Maddy when she was little and he was traveling because of work. It is extremely sweet, weird, funny, awkward and beautiful.

It's more of a rarity for Neil's fans to enjoy, so that they can have a better picture of Neil, the man and Neil, the father. But if you're not Neil's fan, then this will feel too weird and awkward to enjoy.

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last night I bought the Gaiman rarities Humble Bundle. Today, I read this. It was adorable.

[Katja Nielsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just to adorable!

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it, and it inspires me, both in regards to what one can do with their own kids, or nephews or nieces, or any young child in your life. It's very cute and makes me happy.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming

[Colleen (Soggywarmpockets) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorably childish.

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was super cute. I wish I were as good at writing as Maddy was at 8.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feels weird to rate something so personal, but honestly this was just so cute and sweet. I'm so glad this got published and I feel so privileged to have read it.

[Stefani · Rating 3 out of 5]

so cute :D

[Bryanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Includea the best poem about kittens ever