Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs By, Judith Barrett, illustrated by Ron Barrett

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers a Simon & Schuster, New York

Text & Illustrations copyright: 1978

First Paperback: April, 1982

Summary:

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” by Judith Barrett, illustrated by Ron Barrett is a favorite amongst first-third graders.  This children’s picture book is about a town called Chewandswallow that doesn’t have snow, rain, or wind but, has breakfast, lunch, and dinner fall from the sky.  Unfortunately, the people do not get to choose what food falls from the sky.  The town is okay with the weather until, the food starts coming down bigger and bigger and faster and faster.  The town ends up coming together to think of plan that will stop this change in weather.  Question is will the town people think of something?

Genre:

 The genre of this children’s picture book is humor and comedy.  It is a cheerful story that children love to read during circle time and on their own.  It encourages children to use their imagination and mind.  The theme is weather and season.  This book is fun and eye catching for all ages but, it is most popular in grades first-third.

Personal comment:

The cover alone is eye catching along with the book title.  For the longest time I thought how can you possibly use this in a classroom setting and learn from it.  But, with some guidance from a teacher I realized this book is can be used for a read-aloud and a science lesson.  For a science lesson you can use it when talking about the different seasons and the weather.

 

  Judi Barrett Bio:

In 1941, Judi Barrett was born in Brooklyn, New York.  She is well known for her picture books about food.  She married Ron Barrett who is an illustrator of some of her books along with “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”.  After their divorce they continuously worked on books together.  She currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts where she continues to be a children’s book writer and a kindergarten arts teacher.  In 1962, she achieved a B.F.A. from Pratt Institute.

Other Books by Author:

Pickles to Pittsburg-October, 1997

I Knew Two Who Said Moo-October, 2000

The Things That Are Most In the World-August, 2001

The Snake is Totally Tail- November, 2007

Never Take a Shark to the Dentist-March, 2008

The Complete Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs-November, 2009

Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing-January, 2012

Santa from Cincinnati-October, 2012

Saved by Soup-(most recent and nominated for James Beard and an IACP book award).

 

Motivational Activities/ Readers Response Questions:

• If you could control the weather, what would you have fall from the sky.  Draw a picture illustrating what would fall from the sky.
• If you were one of the town people what plan would you have to stop the food from getting bigger and falling faster.
• Have students look outside and write what they see in the clouds.  Then if there is time draw a picture.
• After reading the book aloud students will go outside and tell what the weather is like for that day.  (Students will know about the different types of weather front the morning announcements talked about every day.)

Bibliography:

Barrett, J. (1978). Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers - Simon & Schuster.

Scholastic Inc. (2012). Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. In Scholastic. Retrieved November 29, 2012, from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/cloudy-chance-meatballs