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John, Jory

The Couch Potato

40 pp. | HarperCollins/Harper | November, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-0-06-295453-4 $18.99
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Pete Oswald. The reliable duo behind the nondidactic (and puntastic) behavior-themed picture books The Bad Seed; The Good Egg (rev. 1/19); and The Cool Bean (rev. 3/20) tackle the topic of excessive screen time. Our couch-potato protagonist (a cheery, bright-eyed cartoon potato) has a favorite spot: the sofa. From there, it can see "a sea of shimmering screens, from wall to shining wall. What joy! What bliss!" As a TV-watcher, an online gamer, and a live-streamer, all of its social interactions are virtual. (The line "It's much easier than trying to meet up somewhere, like folks did in the olden days" has a particular resonance right now.) While plugging in its newest device--"a video camera that would allow me to watch myself react while I was watching all my favorite shows"--our hero blows a fuse. This leads to some much-needed fresh air, face-to-face interaction, and outdoor adventure besting anything with pixels. Text and illustrations ("scanned watercolor textures and digital paint") are packed with humor, from the potato's guileless expressions to its favorite shows ("M*A*S*H*E*D Potatoes") and ingenious inventions (self-pouring milk and cereal) to its pals, a.k.a. "best spuddies." By the end, the tater still loves electronic devices and couch-sitting, but its horizons have been expanded to the great outdoors, and to analog reading: Catcher in the Fry.
Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

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