The Truth About the Couch

by Adam Rubin, Liniers (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

From the guy who brought you Dragons Love Tacos comes a story that induces cackles, playfully breaks the fourth wall and cavorts with conspiracies. It's the perfect read-aloud for kids and parents who love to share in laughs.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dragons Love Tacos comes this hilarious picture book about everyone’s favorite piece of furniture.

Pssst! Hey. I'm here to tell ya what the furniture police don't want you to know... Listen close. I'll explain everything.

Most people think couches are just for sitting, or maybe napping, and don't give it a second thought. But did you know couches can go berserk if you don't feed them a steady diet of coins, cell phones, and remote controls? And did you know some couches are grown on a farm? (Where do you think the term couch potato comes from?) Some come from two chairs who love each other very much, and some are actually aliens in disguise. And that's just the tip of the iceberg...

This laugh-out-loud send-up of conspiracy theories brings Adam Rubin's trademark zany humor together with the richly expressive artwork of Macanudo creator Liniers to explore the totally, completely true (really! maybe?) history of the world's most beloved—and misunderstood—item of furniture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593619131
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	04/23/2024
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	7,343
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Adam Rubin is the author of a dozen critically acclaimed picture books which have sold more than five million copies combined, including Dragons Love Tacos, Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel, High Five, Gladys the Magic Chicken, Secret Pizza Party, Robo-Sauce, the Those Darn Squirrels trilogy, and El Chupacabras, which won the Texas Bluebonnet Award. He also wrote the New York Times bestselling middle-grade story collections The Human Kaboom and The Ice Cream Machine, which was called “as delicious as a multilayer sundae” by Parents magazine.

Liniers is the author of more than thirty books, including the Eisner Award–winning Good Night, Planet. He is the creator of the daily comic strip Macanudo, which has been published in Argentina by La Nación since 2002 and in English-language collections in the United States since 2014. He received the Inkpot Award for his contributions to the world of comics in 2018. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @porliniers.

Editorial Reviews

01/22/2024

In a work that tackles the secret lives of couches, a nattily dressed red fox appears on a classic proscenium stage, promising readers plenty of juicy material about sofas, only to be interrupted by an equally well-dressed opossum, who insists that the fox is upholstering the truth. The lecture is all but stalled by their bickering, the possum censoring the fox’s dubious presentation boards with black tape, until they finally agree on one thing: couches eat coins. Even this détente quickly deteriorates, however, when the fox goes on to insist that couches also eat cats and grandmothers. It takes full-on mayhem, including an appearance by dinosaur-mounted couch police, to convince the possum that couches do have lives of their own. Employing anthropomorphized cushions and legs that give each couch a devil-may-care personality, Liniers (Wildflowers) details each of the fox’s assertions in pencil and watercolor sketches that speak their own loopy kind of truth. Via this collection of musings, Rubin (High Five) proves as quippy as ever (some couches “come from two chairs who love each other very much”), perhaps prompting human readers to regard their own settees in a new and more appreciative light. Ages 3–7. Author’s agent: Jennifer Joel, CAA. Illustrator’s agent: Angelica Erhart del Campo and John Lind, Lind Publishing and Media. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Truth About the Couch:

"Full-on mayhem . . . Via this collection of musings, Rubin (High Five) proves as quippy as ever . . . perhaps prompting human readers to regard their own settees in a new and more appreciative light." —Publishers Weekly

"A hilarious send-up of conspiracy theories and adults’ attempts to shelter children from the real world . . . Funny and thought provoking.." —Kirkus Reviews

"The supremely silly story seems straightforward and then delightfully defies expectations, offering wildly inaccurate insights into furniture history and behavior. Garrulous graphite pencil and watercolor illustrations capture the hilarious high jinks with style and exuberance, and the clever stage-on-a-page depiction is a snazzy touch. A splendidly offbeat ode to the seemingly simple sofa." —Booklist

From the Publisher

2024-02-03
The hidden history of one of the world’s most popular pieces of furniture.

An anthropomorphized fox in a purple jacket and green pants stands on a stage, showcasing various kinds of sofas and what they’re used for: eating, sleeping, dance parties, and sliding down pillows. Just as the fox is about to provide a demonstration of that last activity, complete with a drawing, an opossum in a gray pinstriped suit emerges: “You can’t show that to children! Someone could break their neck!” Using a tape dispenser–like machine, the opossum covers up the offending image with a black censor bar. The fox continues to expose “truths” about couches: Some of them grow on farms (“Where do you think we got the term couch potato?”); they have an insatiable hunger, which leads to objects disappearing among the cushions; and some are actually aliens in disguise. The opossum is skeptical, but when a chaotic parade of couches enter the scene to prove the fox right, the opossum is forced to reconsider. This is a hilarious send-up of conspiracy theories and adults’ attempts to shelter children from the real world. Depicting elegantly attired creatures, Liniers’ muted artwork contrasts humorously with the surreal scenarios depicted. The dialogue between the fox and opossum is entertaining, but grown-ups might want to pre-read before read-alouds to avoid tripping over some phrasing (e.g., “secret elite couch enforcement squadron”).

Funny and thought provoking. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews