He Came With the Couch, by David Slonim | Book Review


Book Review of He Came With the Couch
The Children’s Book Review

He Came with the Couch: Book Cover

Written by David Slonim

Ages 3-6 | 36 Pages

Publisher: Chronicle Books | ISBN-13: 978-1797211886

What to expect: Unexpected friendship and silly humor.

Sometimes something weird and unexpected can become…wonderful! That’s the moral of the story in this wacky, silly tale starring a very silent new addition to Sophie’s family.

When Sophie’s family needs a new couch (oops, a fire!) they look all over town. Finally settling on the perfect couch, they realize something odd – it comes with a little blue person. No matter what they do, they cannot pry the silent little blue guy off the couch. A doctor is called and proclaims that the new blue guy needs to get out more. Sophie’s family takes him on wonderful trips (still stuck to his couch) around the country.

Still, he sits silently.

He Came with the Couch: Illustration

One day, Sophie falls out of a tree, and guess what? It’s the new blue person to the rescue! He throws the couch out the window just in the nick of time to catch Sophie as she falls. Now they are friends, and super-duper glad he came with the couch! He even comes with them to find a new chair – which comes with another unexpected friend!

Full of silly surprises, HE CAME WITH THE COUCH is sweet and fun, and all about how life may not turn out the way you expect, but can still be pretty great. The little blue visitor on the couch seems strange and maybe just a bit annoying, but his oddness leads Sophie’s family to great adventures and even saves Sophie from catastrophe. David Slonim’s sparse but poignant story perfectly melds with his familiar, comforting, and silly illustrations. The little blue person (and his blank stare for most of the book) will make young readers laugh at the absurdity of it all. And in the end, we all might realize just how wonderful an odd stranger can turn out to be.

HE CAME WITH THE COUCH provides a wonderful way to teach children not to judge a new person too quickly, and to roll with what life hands you! After all, you never know who might be the hero in the end.

Buy the Book

David Slonim: Author Headshot

About the Author

Illustrator David Slonim is the author-illustrator of “Oh, Ducky!: A Chocolate Calamity” and the illustrator of “Moishe’s Miracle” by Laura Krauss Melmed, which was recognized by The New York Times as one of the Ten Best Illustrated Children’s Books of the Year. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, he lives in Chesterfield, Indiana.

Jimmy Chartron and the Lost Keystone by David Slonim was reviewed by Denise Mealy. Discover more books like He Came With the Couch by following along with our reviews and articles tagged with friendship and humor.

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June 9, 2022 at 08:29PM Denise Mealy