The Couch Was a Castle

by Ruth Ohi

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.

Genres: Picture Books

24 pages, Paperback

First published June 8, 2006

About the author

Ruth is the illustrator of over 50 books, including 15 of which she also wrote. She is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design.

Her books have been selected for the Pennsylvania Centre for the Book's “Baker’s Dozen”, the Canadian Toy Testing Council's "Great Books", the Ontario Library Association's "Best Bets", and the Toronto Public Library's "First & Best". They have been shortlisted for awards such as the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book, Amelia Francis Howard-Gibbons , Mr. Christie, and Blue Spruce.

Plenty of pdf printables can found on her website. Printables include puppets, games and creative handouts for her latest books.

A favourite part of her job is hosting workshops where young people get as excited about creating their own visual stories as she does.

Reviews

[FM Family · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short simple story about two siblings using their imaginations and playing together on the couch. My almost 4 year old enjoyed it as she does all Ruth Ohi books, but I think it was a little short on words for her to be really engaged.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two sibling spedn the day on the couch pretending the coach is a variety of things like castles and pirate ships. Toddler and up

[Penny McGill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was helping a grandmother find books about 'being a sister' on Friday and I remembered Ruth Ohi. Her magic storytelling power mixed with fantastic illustrations has always been a favourite at our house and we frequently give her books - Chicken, Pig, Cow or Clara and the Bossy are wonderful - as gifts to toddler-aged kids in our family. Anyway, I provided the grandmother with the beautiful Ruth Ohi book "Me and My Sister" and one of the Chicken, Pig, Cow series as a bonus book and found this one to bring home for our own house.

It stars guinea pigs and involves those pigs using their imagination and the couch as a setting for some fantastic adventures. We read it aloud this weekend and then read it to our own guinea pigs. The pigs were not that interested in the books (we think they prefer to read from "Little Whistle" because he is such a smart pig and basically runs that entire toy store on his own) as they were in trying to eat the pages - don't worry, no library books were harmed at this house. In any case here's a mention of a wonderful Toronto-based author-illustrator who makes the kid world come alive on the pages of her books. We've seen her do a few author visits at Word on the Street and in 'real life' she is just as fabulous as her books.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. I do not usually give book high ratings but this one just hit a soft spot in my heart. This is all about imagination and reminds me when I was a kid. The couch is a castle, a horse, a fort, a circus tent! I reminds me of the old puke green couch my parents had in the basement.

[Natalie Schmitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two little animals play on a couch. Instead of just sitting there, they use their imagination to become different things. See what adventures they go on by just sitting on their couch. This book is great to teach visualization. Allow the students to visualize the adventures these two take.