Old MacDonald had an apartment house Book

The Barretts are better known for Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, but I think this lesser-known opus is the superior work. It does stretch credulity a bit. My father, a plant pathologist who was raised on a farm, used to go to great lengths to explain to us exactly WHY one could not turn an apartment building into a farm, the way Old MacDonald does in this book. I didn't care; it doesn't matter. This is a parable about nature and the city finding ways to accommodate each other, soft-hearted gardeners and practical capitalists finding common ground, cats and dogs lying down together... well, you get the idea. A peaceable kingdom in a five-story walk-up.

I loved it as a kid. One could make a legitimate argument that this book is why I write. Not the only reason, but one of the first.