Foodie book for kids destined for the Big Screen

I heard it here first, and IMDb confirmed it:

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi and Ron Barrett is being made into a film.

It is scheduled to be released in the U.S. in September 2009 and stars a long list of current SNL members and alums.  Mr. T is voicing Earl Devereaux.

In a similar media-related theme, I'm home today with a sick Kiddo so we're watching lots of Disney Channel.  A couple weeks ago, I blogged about Disney's Pass the Plate initiative.  This morning, it was an animated cooking show called "Tasty Time with Ze Fronk".  

In the course of the short mini-show, Ze Fronk makes a recipe (in this case it was a tuna sandwich).  The website has recipes and videos so you don't have to try and catch it on Disney Channel.  I was also pleasantly surprised to find that Ethan Long is the creator - huzzah!  While I certainly don't think Disney produces stuff like this out of the goodness of their hearts, I will still watch it and enjoy it.  The emphasis on "deliciousness" and recipes is particularly pleasing to me.

Reviewing Foodie Books for Kids!

So I've been doing some reviewing for School Library Journal and sort of enjoying it...

...however, I recently shared with the reviews editor that my passion was food and food writing, and I (professionally, of course, because I am nothing if not professional) begged her to give me food-related books to review.  So in the mail today, I received THREE books to review...all

 FOOD-RELATED!  So coming up:

- Sylvie by Jennifer Sattler (Random House, May 2009)

- I Love Chocolate by Davide Cali, illustrated by Evelyn Daviddi (Tundra, Feb 2009)

- The King's Taster by Kenneth Oppel, illustrated by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher (HarperCollins, June 2009)

Want to know what I'm most excited about?  That there are three upcoming food-related books for kids...and those are just the ones I'm reviewing, let alone the multitudes that I am not!  Between that and the Disney Channel episode this morning, among other things, I'm feeling wildly optimistic today.

Pass the Plate

Kiddo was watching Disney Channel this morning and this was what we saw: proof positive that the revolution in food is trickling down to our children (or at least our children's programming).

What I appreciate is that the focus is on food and recipes, rather than nutrition.  Locally grown food is good nutrition.  At the same time it doesn't ignore the global nature of food, which I also appreciate: there's an emphasis on awareness and knowing where your food is coming from.  Not to mention that Disney's approach is colorful, fun, and interesting.

I'm thrilled about this.  Now I have ammunition for those friends and colleagues who try to tell me how evil Disney is.