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A review by mldavisreads
The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling
reflective
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Children's fiction, early chapter book length. I had heard of this book and recognized the cover but not actually read it until my son's school chose it for a One School One Book event. The chapters are pretty quick to read, and there are some illustrations (maybe one or two per chapter. I hadn't realized that this book was actually written in the 50s so it was interesting to see that in some of the dialogue and in the children's outfits.
John Midas loves candy, especially chocolate. One day he finds a coin that leads him to a chocolate shop. He looks around and chooses a box of chocolates. When he gets home, he is surprised to find that there is only one chocolate in the box. But boy is it good! The next morning, something strange happens. John's breakfast turns to chocolate! Not on the tray, but as soon as it touches his mouth. Soon everything his mouth touches turns to chocolate, whether it's food or not-- like the pencil he chews on while pondering his math test. What started off as fun turns into a disaster. How can John get rid of this chocolate touch?
This book is obviously a retelling of the Midas touch, but can be enjoyed without familiarity to that story. It's very much a lesson story-- you can't have sweets all the time, or more broadly that too much of a good thing can be bad. But it was an engaging story nonetheless.
John Midas loves candy, especially chocolate. One day he finds a coin that leads him to a chocolate shop. He looks around and chooses a box of chocolates. When he gets home, he is surprised to find that there is only one chocolate in the box. But boy is it good! The next morning, something strange happens. John's breakfast turns to chocolate! Not on the tray, but as soon as it touches his mouth. Soon everything his mouth touches turns to chocolate, whether it's food or not-- like the pencil he chews on while pondering his math test. What started off as fun turns into a disaster. How can John get rid of this chocolate touch?
This book is obviously a retelling of the Midas touch, but can be enjoyed without familiarity to that story. It's very much a lesson story-- you can't have sweets all the time, or more broadly that too much of a good thing can be bad. But it was an engaging story nonetheless.