Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (book)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is an American children's book written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett. It was first published in 1978 by the Simon & Schuster imprint Atheneum Books, followed by a 1982 trade paperback edition from sister company Aladdin Paperbacks.
From Simon & Schuster publishing: 
A sequel, Pickles to Pittsburgh, was published in 2000 by Atheneum Books; a hardcover edition followed in 2009.
A cookbook special, Grandpa's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Cookbook, was released with a variety of fabulous cooking ideas.
A Third Installment in the 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' book series was released as: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 3, Planet of the Pies.
==Plot==
The book details a bedtime story narrated by a grandfather to his grandchildren, Henry and his younger sister, chronicling the daily lives of the citizens of an unordinary town called Chewandswallow characterized by its strange daily meteorological pattern that provides the townsfolk with all of their required daily meals by raining food. With the devoid of malls and grocery stores, this was a much better arrangement.
After a couple of millenniums had passed and when all the excitement had died down, the townspeople (about the food in the weather) began to realize that they weren't happy about it as they thought. Their lives endangered by the threats of the storms, they relocate to a different community of average meteorological patterns, safe from the hazards that once were presented by raining meals. However, they are forced to learn how to obtain food the normal way. (That is, by being used to buying food from shopping malls and supermarkets.) 
The following morning, the man's grandchildren awaken to discover snowfall. After bundling up and hurrying outside to play, the granddaughter, in first-person narration, describes the scent of mashed potatoes detected while romping with her brother, implying that the grandfather's story might not be purely fictitious.
== Development ==
One of author Judi Barrett's earliest ideas for the book was one sentence: "Henry walked outside and got hit in the head with a meatball."https://www.npr.org/2022/10/09/1124930113/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs-judi-ron-barretthttps://heritageradionetwork.org/episode/judi-ron-barrett-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs/ Acting on that idea, she began to list food that could also work as weather, including nods to eating habits she had as a child, such as lamb chops with peas and ketchup. 
The illustrations by Ron Barrett were created in pen and ink with "tiny, tiny" nibs for the fine details. The level of detail added a sense of realism to the town of Chewandswallow, allowing parents and children to find new details with every read. 
The Grandpa is designed after Ron Barrett's uncle Eli. 
==Gallery==
File:Cloudybook inside 01.jpg|The pancake covering the school
File:Cloudybook inside spaghettitwister.jpg|The tomato tornado
File:Jello Book Version.jpg|The Jell-O mold
File:Roofless Book Version.jpg|The Roofless
File:Outtasighter Book Version.jpg|The Outtasighter
Category:Books