Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett; ill. by Ron Barrett

Genre: fantasy

In this story, a young boy's grandfather tells the tall tale of the town of Chewandswallow, in which no one ever had to buy food, because it rained down from the sky.  When the weather becomes volatile and violent--relative to a town that rains enormous amounts of food--the citizens of Chewandswallow have to find a new place to live.  They make rafts out of giant sandwich breads, and they sail across the ocean to find a new home.  They succeed, but are totally miffed that people buy food from shelves.  The next day, as the young boy and his sister go sledding outside, he imagines a pat of butter on the snow drift and thinks he smells mashed potatoes.
This is a fun story!  It's light on meaning, but children will enjoy imagining a world where their favorite foods rain down from the sky.

Lesson idea: Students can create artwork featuring a town made entirely of food!

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