Book Review: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett and Ronald Barrett

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Imaginative story and pictures with added gags

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

Creative, funny

Picture book all can enjoy

Grab your plate and read

My Prediction?  Giggle with a Chance of Laughs

Somehow I missed Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs growing up.  I'd heard the title, but never read the story.  It turns out I was missing out on a gem of a picture book.

After a funny accident at breakfast, Grandpa weaves a tale of the land of Chewandswallow.  In this magical land, clouds don't bring rain or snow.  They bring dinner (and lunch and breakfast).  People just take their plates and bowls outside and catch the meal of the day.  But what happens when storms brew?  How do you handle pea soup fog?  Will the residence survive the food weather catastrophe?

This book is aimed at the late pre-school, early elementary school crowd.  Yes, it is a picture book, but the writing is a little more complex.  The story is told in fairly simple sentences, but there can often be three or four paragraphs on a two page spread.  Kids need to have the attention spam to sit through that before they can appreciate it.

But if they can sit through it, they'll love it.  Heck, the idea of food falling from the sky appeals to me, and I'm an adult.  They will soon get caught up in the descriptions of life in Chewandswallow.  Author Judi Barrett did a wonderful job of thinking through exactly what life would be like in this situation.  The result is a realistic look at the fantasy.  This is especially true as the weather turns nasty and the residence must decide to flee.  Okay, so maybe fleeing is boats made of stale bread is back to fantasy, but it works.

The pictures add to the charm as well.  Every page features very detailed black and white drawings.  As the fantasy part starts, red, yellow, and a yellow-green are introduced to the drawings.  The colors are limited, but they are enough to bring the story to more vibrant life.

Be sure you look at all the pictures closely.  Some of the best gags are in them.  Things that aren't mentioned in the test.  Things like an open air restaurant.  There's a great sign in a football game.  And you've got to catch the name of the Chewandswallow newspaper.  No, I'm not giving it away, but it is priceless.

The way this story plays out and the details included in the illustrations are sure to make kids giggle.  They might even laugh out loud at times at the absurdity of the situation.  Either way, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is a gem that needs to be shared with all generations.