The Chocolate Touch

John Midas was an ordinary boy with one bad fault: “he was a pig about sweets”. He loved sweets more than anything, and never shared them with anyone. Chocolate, of course, is the best sort of sweet there is. One day John finds a special coin, and goes to a special shop to buy a very special box of chocolates. However, after eating the contents, John realises that everything he puts into his mouth is turning into chocolate!

This is a fable about greed and moderation. John loves chocolate, but there’s only so much chocolate anyone can eat before needing a drink. And of course even the water in the school drinking fountain turns to chocolate in John’s mouth.

The author has done a clever job of describing the good and bad points show more about chocolate. At the beginning of the story the reader identifies with John in his longing for chocolate, but by the climax of the story the reader, still identifying with John, is longing for variety.

One of the features of John’s ailment is that whatever goes into his mouth keeps its own texture, taking on only the flavour and sweetness of chocolate. The author manages to describe all the foods John would ordinarily eat in the course of a day – “the bacon had been hot, crisp, and oily…and the marmalade sticky and lumpy” – which still taste like chocolate. It helps the reader to have a strikingly clear image of what John is going through.

As if the food isn’t bad enough, John’s real crisis points occur with the things he puts in his mouth which aren’t ordinarily intended to be eaten. This story is told mainly over the course of one day in John’s life, during which the reader realises what a wide range of things one might reasonably put in one’s mouth. Naturally these crises begin to affect others besides John himself, which is what finally seems to motivate him to do something about his problem. Apart from the basic ‘magic’ premise, this story is all-too-realistic: everybody reacts with exactly the sort of indignant disbelief or envy that might be expected from kids and parents faced with this sort of situation.

Of course this story is based on the ancient myth of King Midas and the Golden Touch (about a greedy king who claimed to love gold so much that everything he touched began to turn into gold).
The Chocolate Touch seemed more modern, more subtle, and more plausible: for the king, everything he touched turned to gold; whereas John is able to continue through everyday life for a bit longer, as it is only that which touches his mouth which is affected. In the end it is the same crisis (a kiss) which helps both King Midas and John Midas to truly repent, and acknowledge with the reader the moral of the story: you can have too much of a good thing! show less

John Midas loves chocolate more than anything. When he finds a special coin on the sidewalk one Sunday, he buys a box of chocolate from a new candy store. That one box of chocolate changes his life...and everything he puts into his mouth into chocolate!

This story has great characters and compares well to the story of King Midas (it would make a good compare contrast/fractured fairytale). I loved this story as a child and rereading it as an adult was just as enjoyable!

I'm sure that all of us have heard of the story of the Midas touch in one way or another. This is a kids' version, with a boy who loves chocolate so much that he wishes everything he eats could be chocolate, especially because there's other foods that he doesn't like!

Anyone familiar with the Midas story also knows that soon enough, the touch becomes a burden, especially when he inadvertently turns non-food into chocolate. It's a fun story for kids, and would be a pretty fast read for adults. I read this back in elementary school and loved it. Yup, too much of a good thing is a bad thing!

John Midas is a pretty regular kid and he LOVES candy. His mother is especially distraught by his excesses. She even takes him to the doctor. Shortly after that John finds an unusual coin on the sidewalk. He decides to take a different route than he normally does and comes upon a candy shop he's never seen before. He goes inside and discovers that the coin will buy him a box of candy which he sneaks into his room. He opens it to find a solitary chocolate which is delicious! From that point on a change takes place in him which I'm sure you can guess. It's super short and pretty great. A lesson is learned!

My son introduced me to The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling. He had read it in school and was so enthusiastic about this modern day retelling of the Midus Touch that I had to add the book to my wishlist.

John Midus is an average boy with a loving father and loving mother. He's nuts about candy, especially chocolate. After a yearly check up at the doctors with a warning to cut back on the sweets, Midus is given a lesson he'll soon not forget. It comes in the form of a very special piece of chocolate, one that gives his tongue and mouth the chocolate touch.

While the book is at its heart a cautionary tale about greed and selfishness, it's also a great introduction to the horror genre. John's chocolate touch evolves into a chocolate show more curse over the course of the day. It puts him, his things and ultimately his friends and family in danger. show less

Preachy and pedantic, but since it was originally published in 1952, I will let that slide due to period context. This is a King Midas retelling with a boy and chocolate teaching a lesson about selfishness and greed*. *Which is part of the moral of the original fable/tale.

Overall I didn't enjoy this, but I think many kids might, as will some parents. I read this as part of a reading challenge.

This is a very cute, highly entertaining read that I strongly recommend for independent readers ages 7 to 12, and for reading aloud. I just finished reading this story to my daughter, and she absolutely adored it. The illustrations are very cute, simplistic, and there's just the right amount interspersed throughout the story. The balance between reading and illustrations is spot on. My son read this story to himself and appreciated having the break in pages of pictures, especially as they bring the story more to life.

Both of my kids initially loved the idea of having everything they eat taste like chocolate, but by the end of the story, both of them took John Midas' lessons to heart. Since my son read this story, I have seen an show more impressive change in his attitude. He is very conscious of how his behavior affects others, and - I kid you not - I have not had a single problem with him eating every bite of his dinner, as it is served to him!

I wish I'd gotten this book for our personal library ages ago! show less