Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
written by Judi Barrett
illustrations by Ron Barrett
(first published in 1978 by the Simon & Schuster imprint Atheneum Books)
Ages 4-8

A couple of months ago, we read Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Both Ana and I found ourselves on the fence about this book while D seemed more favorable towards the presentation than us. The lengthy rambling text and bland illustrations were probably the reason it didn't appeal to the 4¾ year old, but, I am still trying to put a finger on why I can't seem to like it...

It's a creative story designed for incorporating funny elements: imagine food raining down from the sky so people just have to hold out their plates and cups to have a meal. That's what happens in Chewandswallow land.

The book opens with Grandpa narrating the wondrous story of the weather changes in Chewandswallow, a little town not much unlike other little towns. Three time a day - around breakfast, lunch, dinner - the weather brings the three meals, with ever-changing menu to keep it exciting. Orange juice, toast, and scrambled eggs rain down from the sky for breakfast, hamburgers and shakes for lunch and even steak dinners at times.

But of course, things start going horribly wrong. The portions get larger and larger and the food that falls down harms more than satisfies people's need for nourishment.

The pen and ink art with old-world comic book styling was a bit distracting for Ana (and me) as she wasn't sure which panel followed next and in what order to process them. It started out simple enough and soon got a bit too verbose... besides, some of the foods therein (like hamburgers, steak and meatballs) were not too appealing to Ana as they have not been a part of her diet so far.

The story progresses, getting increasingly distressing as the people are literally attacked by the food falling from the sky. They finally decide to leave town building rafts out of huge bread slices that fall down from the sky.

I was probably over-thinking when trying to identify the allegory - perhaps the book warns us of increasing portion sizes and lack of reverence for the food that sustains our bodies; or perhaps how unsustainable our habits are that we end up trashing our dwelling - i.e., Earth - and are forced to migrate to other planets...

All in all, it is an imaginative tale, the kind we'd expect grandpa to make-up impromptu just to see the jaw-drop in his gradkids. It seems worth reading. At least to see how the kids respond to it. I would like to read it again with Oggie in a couple of years and see if he likes it and if Ana takes to it better then.

And, of course, when Nana came by for Winter Holidays visit, she took us to the movie, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Just us three girls, as Ana happily noted.

I liked the back-story, the set-up, and treatment in the movie. There were elements that probably missed Ana (the attraction between the hero and the heroine, the relationship between father and son, the mayor's motives), but there was enough in there that kept her laughing and entertained.

Plus, of course, we saw the movie at The Baghdad Theater, in the Hawthorne District. D and I used to catch a show or two there on and off before the kids came along. The plush vintage interior and the casual atmosphere makes this a wonderful experience: we can order beer and pub menu - popcorn, tater tots, pizza, drinks and such - and enjoy it while watching the movie, at a reasonable price. The theater has tables and chairs, and the waitress brings our order to our table. It is fairly relaxed and kid-friendly, not too finicky about incidental noises of chewing and crunching and slurping... but, people are very respectful and don't chatter away loudly anyway.

Between munching popcorn and pizza, and sipping her lemonade, while watching this movie, I know Ana had fun. And, the movie was not much like the book - it starts off differently and begins to entertain right away. However, it took a bit of convincing initially, until the scene where food starts falling down from the sky, that the book we read and the movie we are watching are both essentially the same. Needless to say, she liked the movie treatment better. And so did I.

Astro Boy by Osamu Tezuka

Soaring high in the sky,
He may be small but only in size.
AstroBoy, AstroBoy,
He is brave and gentle and wise!

Three years ago, I had no inkling of how frequently these words would ring in our household.

Anxious to get some extra panties for the wee 10-month-old Ana to cover her diaper-ed bottom while traveling in Singapore, we casually picked up a pack of three at Mustafa's (where else?!) and started using them right away.

A year or so later, during the potty-training enterprise, I discovered that the pictures on the panties could be quite a powerful motivator for saying bye-bye to diapers for good.

Thus started Ana's fascination with those set of three panties we had picked up without a second thought, and they began to fit her just right minus the diaper...

...featuring...

... you guessed right: Astro Boy!

And, being a fan of the Manga/Anime classics, D encouraged Ana by showing her little youtube snippets of Astro Boy episodes. Needless to say, Ana fell in love with Astro Boy!

Why? Because, to quote Ana, 'he is a nice and kind robot who helps everybody'. And, he can fly, see in the dark with his glowing eyes, shoot out missiles from his hip, and he makes a great fashion statement clad in just panties and boots.

Astro Boy was the first comic to be animated in Japan back in the 60's to be shown on Fuji Television, then dubbed into English for worldwide consumption.

Osamu Tezuka, the creator of Astro Boy had a simple message:

What I try to appeal through my works is simple. The opinion is just a simple message that follows: "Love all the creatures! Love everything that has life"! I have been trying to express this message in every one of my works. Though it has taken the different forms like "the presentation of nature" "the blessing of life" "the suspicion on too much science oriented civilisation" anti war and so on.
--Astro Boy Online

And, when we got wind of the new Astro Boy movie, D and I exchanged the typical
'?'
'!'
glances and tried to work out a way to take her to the movie before it is off the theaters.

No luck so far. Not unless we take the day off and plan to plonk a week's worth of grocery budget for the movie tickets and popcorn for three. What? Cut back on popcorn? Quelle horreur!

No, I know what you're gonna say - we did the coin-toss and we agreed that *both* of us won, so both of us have to accompany her to the movie while Og is safely enjoying his day with his wee little friends at daycare.

When? Ddim rŵan, possibly, byth, as D claims.

Holi Hana, Hana siarad

D got this wonderful Welsh DVD for Ana for X'mas called Holi Hana.

It is a 2007 release children's DVD (3-7 years) with eight 10-minute episodes featuring Hana the Duck who runs a Phone Helpline addressing little problems children face, sort of like Agony Aunt to whom you run to with problems, who listens to you patiently and gives you good advice.

It is created by Jack and Elke Counsell and developed for television by Andrew Offiler of Welsh-based animation experts Calon. It has become an instant hit with Ana and me as it helps children learn how to express and solve problems.



What I like:

• stuffed dolls are the main characters - Rosie the Panda, Cyril the Beaver, Ellen the Ostrich and so on
• stop-motion animation with adorable stuffed dolls whose stitches can be seen - incredibly charming and rustic at the same time
• educational and fun - one episode deals with not standing under a tree when there is lightning and thunder, and how to deal with fear

While I am not fluent in Welsh, I can pick up a word here or there and try to follow along. Ana seems to do better than me in this respect.

It doesn't help that D introduced Ana and me to Northern style Welsh whereas some of the Holi Hana and Nodi , Ffi-Ffi, Smot etc. have Southern style Welsh woven in...

However, it is extremely rewarding when Ana watches it and picks up things on her own. The other day, after watching a few episodes of Holi Hana, Ana felt she was done, so she turned off the TV and came looking for D. When he asked her what happened in her Holi Hana show, she stated (in Welsh) "Uh-oh Mouse... Mae'n ddrwg gen i, mouse"! (pronounced sort of like mine-dhroo-gun-ee)

D understood it. I didn't, of course...

Turns out, as she tried to explain to D in part English part Welsh, the mouse did something bad and was sorry - mae'n ddrwg gen i apparently translates to "my bad" idiomatically. She just picked up the phrase mae'n ddrwg gen i from the show and sort of understood it in context, vaguely at least... which is better than what I can do.

Daddy Charmer

With head tilted to a dangerously cute angle, in a thin and delicate voice, casting an enchanting look directly into Daddy's eyes, TJOML utters, "Mote, Appa? Moaa Mote, Appa?". She bats her puppy-dog eyes and adds, "Mote. Woof. Woof.", with the most alluring bobble-headed nod.

Daddy has no choice but to comply. He has not mustered up the whatchamacallit so far to resist the spell.

"Mote" = Smot, the Welsh DVD of Spot The Dog.

Some creative misdirection and providence has helped me stay immune to this spell so far. I know it is only a matter of time before I am ensnared as well and end up playing the DVD on demand.

Smot DVD is sort of cute and educational, so, I guess I am ok with it for now.

Inbetween the 5-minute episodes where Smot sings and plays with his friends etc., the DVD has little kids solving some puzzles, discovering musical instruments and such.

For example, one such large floor puzzle is shaped/structured like a pond, with cut-outs of things one might find in the pond - like a duck, a frog, a fish. The cut-outs leave a clearly defined hole-of-sorts in the pond. The kids look around the room and find frog, fish, duck, ladybug and such shapes, some of which are of course designed to fit into the hole-of-sorts in the pond puzzle. The kids try to fit each one in the correct spot.

One of the kids picks up a ladybug and tries to put it in the frog-shaped cut-out in the pond. Naturally it doesn't fit. So, he tries again till he gets it right.

TJOML has noticed this and registered it the first couple of times. From then on, every time we play the DVD, when the kid picks up the ladybug, she blurts out, "No! foth! No, FOTH!", trying to help the kid in the DVD. (foth = frog)

Wonder if she is thinking What a silly kid... he knows ladybug doesn't fit, he has tried it umpteen times so far; yet, he tries again and I have to help him.

Daddy, from where I am looking, is hopelessly under the tiny one's spell. He can't seem to string an "N" and an "O" together and utter it firmly when the little charmer is working full tilt.

ffi-ffi ai ffriendiau and smot

Santa stopped by! He thought TJOML was really good.

I think TJOML got a good set of Christmas surprises. She doesn't quite understand Christmas yet, but, recognizes Santa and likes a few Christmas songs.

Two of the Santa's surprises for TJOML are Ffi-Ffi and Smot DVDs.

I just started watching them, so, am not quite sure if I like them as much as I like Nodi. TJOML seems to like them a lot already. She has only watched them for about 20 minutes so far.

Smot is basically Spot. In Welsh. A cute dog. Sings and has adventures with his friends. The DVD we got has a sing-along feature - words to the song are included in the DVD. I like it as it helps me learn a bit more of Welsh than I had intended. That's always good.

Ffi-Ffi is a little girl and has some friends and has fun. Well, Ffi-Ffi is a Forget-Me-Not, one of her friends is a Violet and another is a Primrose. There's a Bumble Bee and a Slug too. The usual kids stuff. In Welsh. This is sort of a girly version of Nodi - different setting, different approach, but, sort of cute and nice to watch.

A while back I was worrying myself quite a bit about letting TJOML watch TV/Video/DVD. I was quite convinced it would do her harm if we let her get into the habit. After all, I grew up watching no TV.

But, D on the other hand, took it easy, and kept saying, "I watched a lot of TV when I was growing up, and I turned out all right". Well, to be honest, he turned out more than all right. He is very smart, very creative etc. But, maybe he is the one exception. Who knows?

A few days a week, D likes to turn on the TV after dinner and relax - maybe watch The Simpsons or something. That sort of grates on my nerves a bit. Just a tad bit. I surely enjoy a show or two - like The Office, and maybe Nova on PBS and such, but, I prefer not to have the TV programming on when TJOML is around.

Anyway, I stopped overthinking this. I let TJOML watch her videos for about 20 mins or so, once or twice a day, only when she asks for it. And then we say "Bye Bye Nodi". So, TJOML understands (sort of) that Nodi has gone Bye-Bye and won't be seen for a while. If she wants to watch more the same day, I put my foot down, and try to play with her and read to her, as long as it takes to get her mind off Nodi or Wil or Ffi-Ffi or Smot. And, as long as I have enough control over what she watches, I think I am OK with it for now.

Hwre! Dyma Nodi

Pretty much every evening these days, as soon as we get home, D and I are treated to an imploring TJOML standing next to the TV and in a plaintive tone repeating, "dak-dak¹", "doddee²", "baaa³","ooh-ooh, doddee", "Amma, doddeeeee", "Appa, dak-dak"... hoping we would respond to her request soon.

Absolutely cute and maddening at the same time!

D bought Hwre! Dyma Nodi and Wil Cwac Cwac for TJOML a while back. And of course, we already have a 2-disc set of Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes, Vol 1., a gift from my parents.

¹ Wil Cwac Cwac
² Nodi
³ Nursery Rhymes (Baa Baa Black Sheep is the first one on disc 1 here)

Now, both TJOML and I don't quite understand or speak Welsh fluently. However, I believe she speaks and understands Welsh a little better than I do sometimes. She, of course, has an advantage: she is only 19 months old.

TJOML adores Nodi and Wil.

I have come to adore Nodi as much or more than TJOML does these days. Partly because it is a bit challenging but very rewarding when I pick up a few words here and there and put them together to improve my Welsh - the characters speak quite clearly; and partly because the animation is well done and appealing.

I have also begun to appreciate Wil Cwac Cwac a bit more nowadays, after watching closely and trying to make sense, because: in quite a few episodes, Wil's parents play pranks on poor little Wil!

If it wasn't obvious by now, Wil is a duck who goes to school, lives in an idyllic hamlet with his mom and dad, has fun with his friends - a turkey, a rooster and such. But, my frustration sometimes stems out of the fact that the characters speak Welsh like a duck or a turkey would speak Welsh and that complicates things for me.

Noddy is a character created by Enid Blyton. I grew up reading The Famous Five when I was little - I was particularly curious about Georgina who prefers to be called George. But that's another story for another day. Nodi is the Welsh version of Noddy, a boy who lives in ToyTown and drives a red and yellow car.

It must be quite a sight: TJOML cuddling in my lap, with a nice blanket around us, staring intently at the TV while our brain cogs can be heard for miles cranking away vigorously trying to process it all!

Hwre to Educational Entertainment!