Book v. Movie 1 - Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs was written by Judi Barrett in 1978 and illustrated by Ron Barrett. This book has been a favorite of mine for several years so I was excited and anxious to hear about the release of the movie in 2009. As we all know, sometimes the books turned in to movies are wonderful and sometimes we are better off never having seen them.

The book begins with a family having breakfast and the grandfather begins to tell the story of the town of Chewandswallow. The movie goes directly into the story of the town and develops how the towns fate came about. Considering the book is a 28 page children’s book, the creators of the movie have taken several liberties in developing the storyline. The movie did reflect many of the food items the townspeople had to encounter in the book. Also, the movie and book flow in the same direction in regards to the storyline. The similarities really end there.

The development of the characters and relationships, such as Flint Lockwood and Sam Sparks, are the key to the movie’s success. The movie was even nominated for a 2010 Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature. The creators took a children’s book and pushed it in the direction the book was already going so the end result isn’t a far reach from the book. If the reader had any questions as to why the “weather events” happened in the story they way they did, they were rewarded with the answers in the movie. My family and students thoroughly enjoyed the movie and was not left disappointed. From a teacher point of view, this combo gave way to some great compare and contrast activities with my class!

Caldecott vs. Newbery Awards

The difference between a Caldecott and a Newbery Award is that one is for artwork (Caldecott) and the other is for the story (Newbery). The Caldecott Medal began in 1938 and was named in honor of the English illustrator, Randolph Caldecott. The Caldecott is the most prestigious award given to children’s picture books for illustrations. The Newbery Medal began in 1923 and was named for John Newbery, an 18^th centure English publisher of juvenile books. Each award has a medal (gold) and an honor (silver). There is only one medal recipient chosen each year but there can be several honor recipients. Both awards have a committee that reviews all the books submitted and selects the best of the best.

I feel that the neither the Caldecott nor the Newbery is a better award than the other. Both indicate the best books of the year in regards to their own criteria. I have several of both in my own collection and am more apt to purchase a book when I see that award symbol on it. To my knowledge there is only one book, William Blake’s Inn written by Nancy Willard and illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen, that has received both a Newbery Medal and a Caldecott Honor.