Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Judi Barrett; Ron Barrett (Illustrator)
After flipping a pancake atop Henry's head, Grandpa spurred to tell his grandkids a story about the town of Chewandswallow. "The only thing that was really different about Chewandswallow was its weather. It came three times a day, at breakfast, lunch, and dinner." In the ensuing illustrations, the citizens of the lucky city run and dive for frankfurters, spaghetti, and chicken wings, while walking to work or going about their day. "GAME CALLED ON ACCOUNT OF PIE," a baseball field scoreboard reads, with players sitting cross legged on the field digging into the pastry.
Unfortunately, the weather takes a turn for the worse. When pancakes fall from the sky, and a giant flapjack covers the entire school, classes are canceled. On other days, breakfast, lunch and dinner come in rainstorms of overcooked broccoli, or persistent fogs of pea soup. The weather becomes so uncontrollable, and often in the form of dangerously oversized foods, that the people are forced to abandon Chewandswallow (in boats made of oversized bread, bacon, and cheese).
Reviewed by : CH.
Themes : FANTASY. FOOD. GRANDPARENTS. TALL TALES.
CRITICS HAVE SAID
- The illustrations are detailed and funny, and the story just gets bigger and more unbelievable and goofy. The perfect book to be reading a child who only sits still for short books.
–Amazon.com
IF YOU LOVE THIS BOOK, THEN TRY:
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Barrett, Judi. Pickles To Pittsburgh. Aladdin, 1997.
Barrett, Judi. Things That Are Most in the World. Atheneum, 1998.
Burroway, Janet, and Lord, John Vernon. The Giant Jam Sandwich. Sandpiper, Houghton Mifflin, c1972.
Cummings, Pat. C.L.O.U.D.S. Lothrop, 1986.
Isaacs, Anne. Swamp Angel. Dutton, 1994.
Clement, Rod. Just Another Ordinary Day.HarperCollins, 1997.
Ketteman, Helen. Heat Wave!Walker, 1998.
Manushkin, Fran. The Shivers in the Fridge. Dutton, 2006.
Palatini, Margie. Sweet Tooth. Simon & Schuster, 2004.
Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are. HarperCollins, c1963.
Seuss, Dr. Bartholomew and the Oobleck. Random House, 1949.
Shields, Carol Diggory. Food Fight!Handprint, 2002.
Wiesner, David. Sector 7. Clarion, 1999.