The Couch Was a Castle

Two brothers discover that with a little pretending, a couch can be anything.

For Burt and his little brother, spending time on the couch is anything but boring. After all, with a bit of imagination, a couch can go through some remarkable transformations. And so the boys ride the couch like a horse and envision a cowboy pursuit. Later the sofa doubles as a pirate ship battling stormy seas. But when some stage-couch theatrics end in tears, it's up to Burt to rescue his little brother's feelings... and restore the fun.

Ruth Ohi draws on her cast of guinea pig characters, introduced in Clara and the Bossy, to tell an innovative tale for younger children. Ohi's rhyming text makes for read-aloud fun, while her gentle illustrations cleverly show first the reality and then the boys' imagined worlds. A pitch-perfect mix of playtime fun with a hint of sibling bickering makes The Couch Was a Castle as honest as it is imaginative.