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

Oh, I would love to live in a land where I would never have to worry about my next meal; where I would never have to cook; where I would never have to go for grocery shopping; where life would be delicious and relaxing.

In the town of Chewandswallow, all this is a reality. Life is delicious! Raining soup and juice, snowing mashed potatoes and blowing storms of hamburgers, the sky over Chewandswallow is full of surprises. Three times per day, the weather serves people with different meals.

Judi Barrett's "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" is a charming children's book. Starting on a Sunday morning with grey sketches of a typical family eating breakfast, the book is an incredible journey to imagination and creativity. The grandfather flips pancakes and the kids brag about how much they can eat. The family pets run around the kitchen, grandfather is distracted and one pancake gets stuck on the ceiling. As it falls on his brother's head, grandfather remembers of a story. After the chaotic daytime, grandfather decides to tell the kids the story of Chewandswallow, a small town, nested between mountains and oceans.

Although being like any other town with shops, restaurants and jobs, with people working and kids playing, Chewandswallow was different because "Everything that everyone ate came from the sky." All the residents of the town walked around prepared to eat the fell that fell from the sky. And everyone was happy with this lifestyle as they wouldn't have to worry about money for grocery shopping, cooking or wasting time in preparing the meal.

One day, the generous weather changed and Chewandswallow was covered with peanut butter and mayonnaise. Even worse, the food kept growing bigger and bigger. Huge pancakes asphyxiated the school and a giant tomato tornado swept Chewandswallow away. Confused and panicky, people had to abandon their homes.

Huge sandwiches served as boats so that people could find their way across the oceans and the mountains in search of a new town. When they got to a safe place, they realized that food would no longer fall from the sky and that they had to fight for a living. After quite sometime they all got used to the new lifestyle and they forgot about Chewandswallow.

One of my first thoughts when I first read "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" was that there is no story and no message in this rather childish plot. What was the meaning of distraction of Chewandswallow? And why would anyone read such a disastrous scenario to a child before bedtime?

Then, I realized that there are a lot of things in the book that actually make it a children's classic. Written in a neat and charming way, the book features innovative ideas and writing. For example, "mustard clouds", "soda drizzle" and a "wind that brings in baked beans" are sprinkled in the book pages creating an utterly pioneer atmosphere. The book is so easy to read that children may read it by themselves.

Ron Barrett's excellent illustrations are detailed and vivid, picturing Chewandswallow residents running after food, trying to catch it on their plates. To my view, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" is a hymn to creativity. And after seeing my son repeating the story and thinking how it would be to live in a town like Chewandswallow, I realized that this is the book's magnitude: its entertaining fantasy.

http://www.amazon.com/Cloudy-Chance-Meatballs-Judi-Barrett/dp/0689707495
http://www.epinions.com/reviews/Cloudy_with_a_Chance_of_Meatballs_by_Judith_Barrett_and_by_Ron_Barrett_and_illustrated_by_Ron_Barrett