The Couch Potato

by Jory John, Pete Oswald (Illustrator)

Overview

An Instant New York Times Bestseller * An Instant Indie Bestseller * An Indie Next List Selection

Feeling fried? Peel yourself on the couch and meet your new pal-tato! The winning fourth picture book from the #1 New York Times bestselling creators of The Bad Seed, The Good Egg, and The Cool Bean, Jory John and Pete Oswald, will get you and your kids moving!

The Couch Potato has everything within reach and doesn't have to move from the sunken couch cushion. But when the electricity goes out, Couch Potato is forced to peel away from the comforts of the living room and venture outside. Could fresh air and sunshine possibly be better than the views on screen?

Readers of all ages will laugh along as their new best spuddy learns that balancing screen time and playtime is the root to true happiness.

Check out Jory John and Pete Oswald’s funny, bestselling books for kids 4-8 and anyone who wants a laugh:

• The Bad Seed
• The Good Egg
• The Cool Bean
• The Couch Potato
• The Good Egg Presents: The Great Eggscape!
• The Bad Seed Presents: The Good, the Bad, the Spooky!
• The Cool Bean Presents: As Cool as It Gets
• That’s What Dinosaurs Do

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062954534
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/03/2020
Series:	Food Group Series
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	14,868
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD550L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jory John is a New York Times bestselling author and two-time E. B. White Read Aloud Honor recipient. Jory’s work includes the award-winning Goodnight Already! series; the bestselling Terrible Two series; the popular picture books The Bad Seed, Penguin Problems, and Quit Calling Me a Monster!; and the national bestseller All My Friends Are Dead, among other books. He lives in Oregon. You can visit him online at www.joryjohn.com.

Pete Oswald is an LA-based artist, kid lit author/illustrator, and production designer. Pete is the illustrator of the Food Group series by Jory John and the Cranky series by Phuc Tran as well as many other picture books. When Pete is not working on books, he is helping to uplift many of the most successful animated franchises as a character designer, concept artist, and production designer. Pete lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife and two sons.

Editorial Reviews

Looking for a spud-tacular read? Starch here.  — Kirkus Reviews

From the writer and illustrator of The Bad Seed (2017), The Good Egg (2019), and The Cool Bean (2019), this picture book certainly has a point to make, but it does so with disarming wit and abundant charm. — Booklist

[T]his tale is timely and helps make the point that a balance of technology and old-school fun might be the way to go. A goofy story about the dangers of too much of one thing, and a lighthearted lesson for all. — School Library Journal

Text and illustrations are packed with humor. — Horn Book Magazine

A stylish and witty picture book. — Sunday Times (London)

From the Publisher

Text and illustrations are packed with humor.

Horn Book Magazine

A stylish and witty picture book.

Sunday Times (London)

From the writer and illustrator of The Bad Seed (2017), The Good Egg (2019), and The Cool Bean (2019), this picture book certainly has a point to make, but it does so with disarming wit and abundant charm.

Booklist

From the writer and illustrator of The Bad Seed (2017), The Good Egg (2019), and The Cool Bean (2019), this picture book certainly has a point to make, but it does so with disarming wit and abundant charm.

Booklist

12/01/2020

K-Gr 3—The term couch potato was coined in 1979 to describe kids who spent more time on the couch than outside playing. John's book toys with that concept in this exaggerated story of an anthropomorphic potato who pridefully shows the reader every device it owns. Each of them is designed to make sure Couch Potato never gets off the couch. When one last device is delivered and is plugged in, the lights go out. Couch Potato opens the curtains and notices what they haven't seen in ages: the outdoors! With nothing else to do, Couch Potato ventures outside and finds there is plenty to do. The COVID-19 pandemic has kept children in isolation indoors and developing couch potato tendencies through no fault of their own; this tale is timely and helps make the point that a balance of technology and old-school fun might be the way to go. The cartoonish art serves the story well, reaching for every last pun and bit of wordplay. VERDICT A goofy story about the dangers of too much of one thing, and a lighthearted lesson for all.—Joan Kindig, James Madison Univ., Harrisonburg, VA

School Library Journal

2020-10-13
Can a couch potato peel themself off their beloved, comfortable couch?

John and Oswald’s titular spud certainly finds it very hard to do so. Why should they leave their “comfy, cozy couch” when everything that’s needed is within reach? Their doodads and gadgets to amuse and entertain, their couch’s extendable gloved hands to grab food from the kitchen, and screens upon screens to watch their favorite TV shows (highlights: MadYam, Fries), play their favorite video games, and livestream their friends. Where’s the need to leave the living room? Then…“PEW-WWWWWWW”! The electricity goes out one day. Left without screens and gizmos, the couch potato decides to take dog Tater “for a walk…outside,” where the trees and birds and skies seem rich, “like a high-resolution 156-inch curved screen, but even more realistic.” The outdoor experience proves cathartic and freeing, away from those cords that bind, liberating enough to commit this couch potato to spending more time off the couch. Similar to The Bad Seed (2017), The Good Egg (2019), and The Cool Bean (2019) in small-scale scope and moral learning, this latest guidebook to life retains John’s attention to textual goodness, balancing good-humored laughs with a sincere conversational tone that immediately pulls readers in. Naturally, Oswald’s succinct artwork—loaded with genial spuds, metatextual nods, and cool aloofness—continues this loose series’ winsome spirit. No counterarguments here, couch potatoes. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 65.9% of actual size.)

Looking for a spud-tacular read? Starch here. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

Narrator Kirby Heyborne captures the hilarity and wordplay of THE COUCH POTATO, which is part of the Food Group series. Couch Potato starts out bragging about all the joys of being lazy, having many devices and never-ending screen time, and having everything you need within reach at the tap of a button. But when a power outage causes Couch Potato to reexamine his idle ways, he learns that life needs balance. Heyborne is excitable and funny as he describes Potato's love of everything digital. His narration turns thoughtful as Potato remembers what it's like to enjoy things that don't require power and a plug-in. His voice captures the wonder of the outdoors and the enjoyment that Potato finds connecting with others in a non-digital world. S.B.T. 2022 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2022 - AudioFile

Narrator Kirby Heyborne captures the hilarity and wordplay of THE COUCH POTATO, which is part of the Food Group series. Couch Potato starts out bragging about all the joys of being lazy, having many devices and never-ending screen time, and having everything you need within reach at the tap of a button. But when a power outage causes Couch Potato to reexamine his idle ways, he learns that life needs balance. Heyborne is excitable and funny as he describes Potato's love of everything digital. His narration turns thoughtful as Potato remembers what it's like to enjoy things that don't require power and a plug-in. His voice captures the wonder of the outdoors and the enjoyment that Potato finds connecting with others in a non-digital world. S.B.T. 2022 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2022 - AudioFile