Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Why It's On Our Shelf

The town of Chewandswallow gets all its food from the sky - three meals a day, perfectly portioned. Until the weather goes wrong and the portions get dangerous. It's framed as a tall tale told by a grandfather, which gives it the right amount of winking unreality. The illustrations by Ron Barrett are detailed and funny, showing the chaos of giant pancakes and tomato storms. What kids love is the pure wish fulfillment of food falling from the sky. What makes it work as a story is that even in this perfect setup, things go wrong, forcing the townspeople to leave. It's imaginative world-building that follows its own internal logic, which is what good fantasy does.