Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Author: Judi Barrett

First line: We were all sitting around the big kitchen table.

Why you should read this book: Let’s set the record straight--Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was originally published in 1978, back when it was understood that healthy children should exercise their imaginations, rather than having their fantasies computer-generated and spoon fed to them while they sat motionless, with their jaws hanging slack. This book is a story-within-a-story, in which a funny breakfast mishap inspires a loving grandfather to create his own fantastic bedtime-story world for his grandkids. The delicious and dangerous world of Chewandswallow, where food falls from the sky, is both magical and prosaic, a story that, hopefully, will never lose its timelessness, or be overshadowed by flashy adaptations.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: Flat, motionless, two-dimensional drawings are too old-school for you.