book data
4,124 ratings,
4.38
average rating, 439 reviews
(more data...)
edit
published
April 1st 1982
(first published 1978)
by Aladdin
binding
Paperback, 32 pages
literary awards
Named one of Reading Rainbow's 101 Best Children's Books
isbn
0689707495
(isbn13: 9780689707490)
description
Grab your plates! In the land of Chewandswallow, meals - rather than rain or snow - fall from the sky. But something goes awry: the food falling from ...more
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Next Best Boo...: The Title Game | 5141 | 3872 | 11 hours, 16 min ago | |
| The Next Best Boo...: tell me 2 things.. | 2837 | 1201 | 2 days ago, 01:23PM | |
| Kid/Teen Literatu...: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs [2009 release] | 5 | 25 | 8 days ago, 07:18PM | |
| 500+ book challenge: BJ's 2009 Book Challenge | 5 | 20 | 06/03/2009 09:15PM |
friend reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 4,531)
All ratings
|
5 stars (2313)
|
4 stars (1200)
|
3 stars (503)
|
2 stars (87)
|
1 star (19)
|
avg 4.38
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Mother nature cooks up a storm, literally, in this madcap story with plenty of silliness to go around.
Ages 4-10
The town of Chewandswallow has some wild weather, bringing meals like burgers, spaghetti, mashed potatoes, and of course meatballs three times a day. Then, things start to go crazy and odd things start happening, like an entire day of just gargonzola cheese and eventually a "tomato tornado" and the poor sanitation department could no longer keep up. Thi...more
Ages 4-10
The town of Chewandswallow has some wild weather, bringing meals like burgers, spaghetti, mashed potatoes, and of course meatballs three times a day. Then, things start to go crazy and odd things start happening, like an entire day of just gargonzola cheese and eventually a "tomato tornado" and the poor sanitation department could no longer keep up. Thi...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
11/02/07
Jenny
added it
OK, this was really my favorite book for most of my childhood. I would pretend to read it before I could actually read (I had simply memorized it from hearing it so many times) and I remember feeling sooo guilty about all the praise I got for being such a good reader at such an early age. Man alive! Really, I think my love for this book stemmed from the fact that I was a deprived child. Well, I suppose I was never deprived of health food like oatmeal and tofu, but I only got white bread with...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in March, 2009
My daughter came home all excited about reading this book in school today. My son then chimed in and I soon had two children dancing around my kitchen telling me all about this book and laughing hysterically. I supposed I should read it myself before I recommend it, but my children definately gave it "two thumbs up"!
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
1 comment
i read this book often as a child, and always at the dinner table. there was something about eating food while reading about it that really appealed to me. i saw this at Barnes & Noble the other day and read it in like 5 minutes. still completely magical.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in January, 1991
This is one of the favorite children's books I read to my first and second graders for six years! It's cleverly written, and the illustrations are a lot of fun! I still remember being so delighted the first time I read it, and I got numerous requests to reread it to my classes.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
1 comment
Read in January, 1985
recommends it for:
everyone who loves food
This book is fully responsible for my love of food and my preoccupation with weather. If weather was food, I would surely follow my secret dream to become a meteorologist. I bought this book for my nephews recently, and was disappointed that the colors of the illustrations were more washed out than I remember. It is also a text heavy book, not recommended for early readers. In my head, I remember vibrant images of pbj falling from the sky. Oh, the fantasies, almost as exciting as getting locked ...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
This is my favorite picture book. Even as a teenager, I'd hunt his book up from time to time to make sure I'd memorized all the lines correctly.
This story reads exactly like all stories told by your grandfather are supposed to. The ones where, as a kid, you keep saying 'really!', then try to verify everything via grandma, who then yells at grandpa for filling your head with nonsense.
This story reads exactly like all stories told by your grandfather are supposed to. The ones where, as a kid, you keep saying 'really!', then try to verify everything via grandma, who then yells at grandpa for filling your head with nonsense.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in January, 1986
recommends it for:
Everyone
There are a million reasons to love this book, but above all, it's about a town where it storms food! Who wouldn't love that?
OK, for real, this book encourages kids to stretch their imagination. It has lots of fantasy and creative writing with the aid of amazing color and B&W illustrations. When me and my artist husband finally collaborate on a book, I will definitely look to this book for inspiration. A must have for kids of all ages. Period.
OK, for real, this book encourages kids to stretch their imagination. It has lots of fantasy and creative writing with the aid of amazing color and B&W illustrations. When me and my artist husband finally collaborate on a book, I will definitely look to this book for inspiration. A must have for kids of all ages. Period.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in August, 2008
If food dropped like rain from the sky, wouldn't it be marvelous! Or would it?
It could, after all, be messy. And you'd have no choice. What if you didn't like what fell? Or what if too much came? Have you ever thought of what it might be like to be squashed flat by a pancake?
Life is delicious in the town of Chewandswallow (a town with an outrageously funny name!) where it rains soup and juice, snows mashed potatoes, and blows storms of hamburgers every day. It would rai...more
It could, after all, be messy. And you'd have no choice. What if you didn't like what fell? Or what if too much came? Have you ever thought of what it might be like to be squashed flat by a pancake?
Life is delicious in the town of Chewandswallow (a town with an outrageously funny name!) where it rains soup and juice, snows mashed potatoes, and blows storms of hamburgers every day. It would rai...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Author: Judi Barrett
Illustrator: Ron Barrett
Genre: fictional picture book
Publication Info: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (1978)
Reading Level: Ages 4-8; transitional
Topic/Theme: different food, imagination, weather,
Issues Addressed: imagined weather conditions, food falling from the sky, too much of a good thing can have bad consequences
Classroom Uses: independent reading, read aloud, shared reading
...more
Illustrator: Ron Barrett
Genre: fictional picture book
Publication Info: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (1978)
Reading Level: Ages 4-8; transitional
Topic/Theme: different food, imagination, weather,
Issues Addressed: imagined weather conditions, food falling from the sky, too much of a good thing can have bad consequences
Classroom Uses: independent reading, read aloud, shared reading
...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
This book was excellent! I hear it is being made into a movie now and I hope they don't butcher it. It begins with an old grandpa telling a story to his antsy young grandkids. He tells them about a town--damn me, I've forgotten the name--where the weather is all food. It would rain your meals of the day. It was a really great concept. One day it goes haywire in this town and the weather gives the residents crazy bad foods. Like one night there was nothing but steamed broccoli and peanut butter, ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2009
I've been wanting to reread this ever since I saw the trailer for the movie they are making based on this book. Like many movies based on picture books, though, it looks like they are adding quite a lot of additional detail to the story. I just hope they stay true to the idea of the book, which is that there is a town called Chewandswallow where they get their food from the weather instead of a grocery store.
The idea is fun, but the illustrations are the best part of the book. Of ...more
The idea is fun, but the illustrations are the best part of the book. Of ...more
Like this review?
yes
2 comments
Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in May, 2008
recommended to Katherine by:
The Northern Nevada Writing Project site "Writing Fix." Check irecommends it for: Anyone! Teachers, parents, young children, children at heart
I am so delighted with how my 6th graders responded to this book. Sometimes when I share a picture book with them, they sit back on their heels and frown skeptically at me, as if to say, "Ms. Frei...we're too old for this." I was especially worried when several kids piped up right away that they have known and read this book since they were little. I thought, "Oh, no. They're going to be so bored and patronized."
NOT AT ALL. There were giggles and gasps and o...more
NOT AT ALL. There were giggles and gasps and o...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Has a copy to sell/swap
I first heard this book when I was maybe 5 or 6. My teacher read it to the class. I think I might have read it maybe later in elementary school (4th or 5th grade), then I didn't think about it much until college. We were talking about books from our childhood and I mentioned this one. No one else had heard of it, so I went to Amazon and ordered it. I love reading it to my nieces and nephews when they come to visit! I just remember as a kid being swept up in the idea of a land where it "rain...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2007
My favorite book of all time, of course because it is about food. I got it as a Scholastic purchase in grade school and again 27 or so years later after the original went missing. This book shares the lives of the residents of Chewandswallow, a land in which the weather arrives in the form of meals and snacks several times each day. What happens though, when the weather begins to go a-rye (get it!) and the townsfolk must adjust their habits and reliance on the unpredictable culinary storms?
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
This book would be great to use for a writing lesson for 2nd and 3rd graders because it encourages kids to stretch their imagination. It has lots of fantasy and creative writing involved. You could have the students write what they would have fall out of the sky if they lived in a town like chewandsallow. Another writing prompt you could have them do is what happen to the town after everyone left, because the story never explains.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
recommended to ReadingJungle.com by:
www.readingjungle.com
The story comically portrays the lifestyles of the residents, showing their anticipation of the weather forecast, and their reluctance of leaving the house without plates or silverware! The meals are consistent, the restaurants are roofless, and the Sanitation Department must clear the roads after every meal. Perhaps the most charming aspect of the book is the forecast descriptions of the meals, stating, “For dinner one night there were lamb chops, becoming heavy at times, with occasional ketc...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 1991
I must have read this book literally hundreds of times in first and second grade, and it stuck with me. When taking an elementary literature class for EDUC in college, I had the opportunity to bring up this book in several classes, and everyone who didn't already love it, fell in love with it. I will definitely be reading this to my kids someday!
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2008
recommended to Taneysha by:
goivannirecommends it for: ms.woodard
yo man i love this book it is crazy like food faling out the sky.I was kind of happy and crazy because that's free food that come out the sky.This book is the best i ever read it mad me realize that u can always have free food if you go to the store and pay for it.i love this book it is the hottest joint i ever read.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in March, 1995
A fun children's classic - grandly imaginative.
I'm very scared of what damage they will do to it by making it an animated feature film - the previews have some cute moments but grafting on the "misunderstood inventor" story (in other words, the plot from "A Bug's Life") does not give me great hope.
I'm very scared of what damage they will do to it by making it an animated feature film - the previews have some cute moments but grafting on the "misunderstood inventor" story (in other words, the plot from "A Bug's Life") does not give me great hope.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
groups with this book
