Before beginning the story ask students if they ever become so wrapped up in a videogame or a television show that they don’t realize they have been sitting for hours. If so, do their parents say anything to them while they are sitting? Discuss the longest they have sat playing video games. Did it bother them to waste that much time on a video game?

The subject matter of this book is something that all the kids can picture mentally. Cover the front of the book and show the images after reading each page, giving students time to think about what it would look like. When finished with the book, give students the opportunity to share how their mental pictures differed from the images in the book.

The text provides many opportunities to read with expression. Before beginning the book, tell the class to pay attention to your voice and the expression used when reading. When finished reading the book, ask students what they noticed about your voice and expression, and why they think you made the adjustments you did.

P. 2 - “It seems their quiet little boy (you know, the one who has the slouch?) has become lodged - if you will, or more “at one” with his couch”

P. 8 - “His arms and legs were soon devoured by cushion squares and lazy glue. And while wriggling and writhing he dropped his best controller too!”

P. 15 - “So today he’s on exhibit in the museum - it’s open now. And some say if you lean in closely....”

Some of the words that might be identified include: peculiar, slouch, lodged, intensely, constant, reciting, trance-like, heeded, horrendous, devoured, pruned, bound.