Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (1978)

When a breakfast mishap ends with pancake all over Henry's face, Grandpa is inspired to tell the story of the small town of Chewandswallow (located "Across an ocean, over lots of huge bumpy mountains, across three hot deserts, and one smaller ocean"), where all of the residents' food needs were once provided for by the local weather. Whether it was raining soup or snowing mashed potatoes, there was always plenty to eat. But as the weather became more and more extreme - nothing but stinky gorgonzola cheese one day, destructive giant meatballs that damaged homes another - the residents slowly began to realize that they would have to abandon their town...

Originally published in 1978, this imaginative picture-book reminded me a bit of Alan Stamaty's Who Needs Donuts?, another food-themed picture-book created in the 1970s. In fact, Ron Barrett's detailed engraving-style illustrations were very reminiscent of Stamaty's artwork. That association added to my enjoyment of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, although I have to admit that, generally speaking, I may have missed the boat on this one. I never read this book as a child, and although I believe young readers will appreciate its humorous take on weather gone wild, I wasn't quite as impressed as I expected to be, given its status as a perennial picture-book favorite. Still, I'm glad it was one of this month's selections, over in the Picture-Book Club to which I belong, even if it wasn't quite my cup of tea! ( )

This book would be fun to use in a unit about weather.

Grandpa tells his grandkids a story about the town of Chewandswallow where it rains food everyday. However, the town faces turmoil when it begins to storm in large, sloppy proportions. They manage to find safe haven across the ocean in another town, but they must adjust to learn how to make their own food. This is a great book that really is all about using your imagination and having fun with reading and the non-sense that sometimes is found in books

This story is about a town who experiences unusual weather conditions. In this town, it rains, snows, and blows food! This is a good thing until the food starts growing into gigantic proportions. This is a good book to read to students not only for the entertainment value but to also teach students the underlying theme of the book, that too much of anything is not good for you. ( )

This has a lot of compound words and good vocabulary students can learn from. ( )